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AMERICAN FIGHTS AND FIGHTERS 




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AMERICAN FIGHTS 
AND FIGHTERS 



STORIES OF THE FIRST FIVE WARS OF THE UNITED STATES 

FROM THE WAR OF THE REVOLUTION 

TO THE WAR OF 1812 



BY 

CYRUS TOWNSEND BRADY 

AUTHOR OF "for LOVE OF COUNTRY," "FOR THE FREEDOM OF THE SEA,' 

"the grip of HONOR," "STEPHEN DECATUR," "RECOLLECTIONS 

OF A MISSIONARY IN THE GREAT WEST," ETC. 



ILLUSTRATED 



NEW YORK 

McCLURE, PHILLIPS & CO. 

1900 



530?9 

L.lbrary of Con(|v*«* 

"^yiu Curiis Received 
SEP 28 1900 

Cef yrigM wtry 
SECOND COPY. 

D*<l(ver«d tfl 

OROEK OWISION, 
OCT 18 190U 



Copyright, 1900, by 
McClure, Phillips & Co. 






TO THE MEMORY OF MY SISTER, 
CORA TOWNSEND BRADY 



PREFATORY NOTE 



This book is designed to call to the attention of those 
interested in our early struggles, some of the most re- 
markable of the great battles, heroic achievements and 
desperate undertakings through which we became a 
nation. No attempt has been made to cover all the 
events in the wars referred to. The author has chosen 
such as would serve to present a variety of incident, to 
illustrate the period and to exhibit the leaders and men. 
In the compiling of this book he has freely used every 
available source of information to which he had access, 
including the numerous printed volumes on the subject, 
and much material in manuscript form. Although the 
sketches are intended for popular reading, it is believed 
that they are accurate and reliable. Other volumes of 
the same character, covering the history of the wars 
and adventures in wdiich we have been interested, from 
the voyages of Columbus to the capture of Manila, are 
in contemplation and preparation. That the stories 
may serve to stimulate patriotism and love of country, 
and to encourage men to consecrate themselves, witH 
the devotion of their forefathers, to the civic battles for 
freedom and honor which are still to be waged, is the 
hope of the author. 

C. T. B. 
Philadelphia, Pa., 1900. 



CONTENTS 

Part I 
THE WAR OF THE REVOLUTION 

1775—1783 

PAGE 

THE DEFENSE OF FORT SULLIVAN 

How THE South was Saved to the Revolution . . 3 

WASHINGTON'S GREATEST CAMPAIGN 

I. Trenton 16 

II. Princeton 27 

PAUL JONES' GREATEST BATTLE 39 

THE SARATOGA CAMPAIGN 

I. The Defeat of the Detachments .... 56 

II. Fort Stanwix. Oriskany 62 

III. Bennington 67 

THE SARATOGA CAMPAIGN— 11 

I. The End of the Main Army ..... 71 

II. Stillwater 76 

III. Saratoga and the Surrender 80 

GREENE'S CAMPAIGN IN THE CAROLINAS 

I. The Beginning, The Cowpens and Guilford Court 

House 84 

GREENE'S CAMPAIGN IN THE CAROLINAS 

II. Hobkirk's Hill, Eutaw Springs and the end . 102 

STORM AND SURPRISE 

I. Ticonderoga 117 

II. Stony Point 121 

III. Paulus Hook 125 



X Contents 

SOME MINOR SEA-FIGHTS OF THE REVOLUTION page 

I. BiDDLE AND THE RANDOLPH 128 

II. Nicholson and the Trumbull 132 

III. Barney and THE //kd^,s ^z,i:K 136 

IV. Barry and the Alliance o 139 

YORKTOWN 143 



Part II 

THE INDIAN WAR IN THE NORTHWEST 

1791— 1794 

ST. CLAIR'S DEFEAT 163 



Part III 

THE WAR WITH FRANCE 

1798 — 1800 

TRUXTUN AND THE CONSTELLATION . . .179 



Part IV 
WAR WITH TRIPOLI 

1802 — 1805 
DECATUR AND THE PHILADELPHIA . . . .199 



Contents xi 

Part V 
THE SECOND WAR WITH ENGLAND 

1812 — 1815 

PAGE 

THE CONSTITUTION'S HARDEST FIGHT . . .215 

THE NIAGARA CAMPAIGN 

I. Chippewa 226 

II. Lundy's Lane 233 

III. The Siege of Fort Erie 238 

THE AMERICAN WASPS AND THEIR VICTIMS 

I. The Frolic 244 

II. The Reindeer 250 

III. T-aY. Avon 253 

MACDONOUGH AT LAKE CHAMPLAIN 

War of 1812 258 

REID AND THE GENERAL ARMSTRONG . . .272 

THE DEFENSE OF LOUISIANA— THE LAST BATTLE WITH 
ENGLAND 287 

THE CONSTITUTION'S LAST BATTLE . . . .304 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



The Capture of the Philadelphia . . Frontispiece 

From a very rare old print. 

■' FACING PAGE 

Death of McDonald, and Sergeant Jasper Raising 
THE Flag at Fort Moultrie lo 

From an engraving by F. O. C. Barley. 

Surrender of Colonel Rall at the Battle of 
Princeton 26 

From an ettgraving of the painting by Chappel. 

The Alliance firing on the Bon Homme Richard 

AND THE SEH A PIS 52 

From an engraving by Rogers of the draining by Filler. 

Arnold Wounded in the Attack on the Hessian Re- 
doubt AT Saratoga 80 

From an engraving of the painting by Chappel. 

Death of Baron de Kalb 86 

From an engraznng by F. O. C. Darley. 

Battle OF EuTAw Springs 114 

From an engraving of the painting by Chappel. 

Siege OF YoRKTowN 152 

Frotn a French engraving of a painting by Couder. 

General Arthur St. Clair 172 

Thomas Truxtun 192 

The medal and Congressional letter presented to him after the action be- 
tween the Constellation and La Vengeance. 

The Constitution and Java 222 

From an engraving in the collection of Charles T. Harbeck, Esq. 



xiv List of Illustrations 

FACING PAGE 

Battle of Chippewa 230 

From an engraving of the painting by Chappel. 

Battle of Lundy's Lane 236 

From an engraving of the painting by Chappel. 

CaPTUKE OF THE J^JiOLIC BY THE IVaSP .... 248 
From a rare engraving by Kearny after a sketch by Lieutenant Claxton 
of the "IVasp." 

Battle of Plattsburg 264 

From the "Naval Temple." 

Battle of New Orleans 300 

From an engraving of the painting by iilartin. 



American Fights and Fighters 
Part I 

THE WAR OF THE REVOLUTION 

1775-1783 



THE DEFENSE OF FORT SULLIVAN 



HOW THE SOUTH WAS SAVED TO 
THE REVOLUTION 

While Washington's masterly strategy held Howe's 
army cooped up in Boston, the British government 
determined to send an expedition to the southern 
colonies in the hope of alienating them from the Ameri- 
can cause. It was a foolish expedition and an un- 
necessary one. Sir Henry Clinton with seven regi- 
ments left Boston early in January, 1 776, for the Cape 
Fear River, where he was to meet a large auxiliary 
force of war vessels and transports early in the spring. 
Meanwhile Martin, the royal Governor of North Caro- 
lina — the fourth in population and importance among 
the colonies — had organized a Tory force of some six- 
teen hundred men, mainly Scots, former adherents 
of the Stuarts, who had come to the colony after the 
futile rebellion in 1745. This force was led by Donald 
Macdonald and his kinsman, Allan Macdonald, the 
husband of the noted and romantic Flora Macdonald, 
who had secured the escape of the Pretender, Charles 
Edward, after Culloden. They were now become loyal 
adherents of the British crown. At the Battle of 



4 American Fights and Fighters 

Moore's Creek, February 27, 1776, this force was de- 
feated by Colonel Richard Caswell with one thousand 
men strongly posted at a bridge over the creek, which 
Macdonald attempted to storm. The rout of the high- 
landers was complete ; they lost nine hundred prisoners, 
two thousand stand of arms and seventy-five thousand 
dollars in gold. That settled the fate of North Caro- 
lina. In the face of the militia force, now amounting 
to ten thousand men, Sir Henry Clinton decided not to 
land, but cruised to and fro off the coast waiting for 
Parker and the expedition from Ireland, and a lone- 
some time they had of it. 

In England preparations to carry on the expedition 
were allowed to drag in a most unmilitary manner, and 
it was not until I'ebruary, 1776, that the force which 
had rendezvoused at Cork, in Ireland, set sail for the 
Cape Fear River, where they were to meet the weary 
and impatient Sir Henry Clinton with the seven regi- 
ments aforesaid. When they did start, misfortune at- 
tended them from the beginning. A succession of fierce 
westerly gales and head wnnds so far delayed their prog- 
ress that it was not until May that they reached Amer- 
ica. Commodore Sir Peter Parker, the early friend and 
patron of Nelson and Collingwood, a distinguished vet- 
eran, then sixty years old, and who afterward rose to 
the very high rank of Admiral-of-the-fleet in the Brit- 
ish service, commanded the expedition. The troops 
he convoyed were led by Lord Cornwallis, who was, 
however, junior to Sir Henry Clinton, who assumed 
command of all the land forces at their junction. 

There were divided counsels between the army and 
the navy in this ill-organized expedition, but at the ear- 
nest solicitation of Lord William Campbell, the deposed 
royalist Governor of South Carolina, it was finally 



The Defense of Fort Sullivan 5 

decided to attack Charleston first ; it was then, as now, 
the most important city in the South, and, as always, 
quite spoiling for a fight ! Early in June, the British 
fleet of some fifty vessels appeared off the bar of 
Charleston Harbor. Unaccountable delays prevented 
the attack until the twenty-eighth of June. The Amer- 
icans were not idle during this period. The South 
Carolinians, under the energetic leadership of Governor 
Rutledge, had been busily engaged in putting the har- 
bor, the city and the province in a state of defense. 
The militia had been called out and the erection of a 
rude fort had been commenced on the southern extrem- 
ity of Sullivan's Island, which commanded the channel 
some three miles from the town. The Island was low, 
sandy, and in parts thickl}^ wooded with palmetto trees. 
Adjoining the Island on the seaward side and separated 
from it by a small inlet was another body of land, 
known as Long Island, which was a bare strip of sand, 
dotted here and there with a few bushes. 

To the second regiment of the North Carolina mili- 
tia, Colonel William Moultrie, had been entrusted the 
construction of the works, for the defense of' the Island 
and the protection of the channel. Out of the palmetto 
logs on the Island, they built a square fort with bas- 
tions at each angle called Fort Sullivan. Two rows of 
logs notched and bolted together with wooden tree- 
nails and placed about eighteen feet apart, with the in- 
terspace solidly filled with sand, formed the enclosure. 
General Charles Lee, who had been sent to take charge 
of the defenses of the province, sneered at it as being 
absolutely untenable, characterizing it as a probable 
slaughter-pen, and predicted that one British frigate 
would knock it to pieces in an hour! All the British 
frigates present seemed to have entertained the same 



6 American Fights and Fighters 

opinion. The only other contributions that Lee made 
to the defense of the place were to withdraw about 
eig-ht hundred of Moultrie's men, to endeavor to re- 
lieve him of the command of the post, and to abandon it. 
These last attempts were prevented by the determined 
resistance of Governor Rutledge, who had faith in 
Moultrie and in the work. The governor asked Moul- 
trie if he could defend the fort. "I think I can," 
replied the phlegmatic soldier; whereupon Rutledge 
wrote him as follows : "General Lee wishes you to 
evacuate the fort. You are not to do so without an 
order from me; I will sooner cut ofif my right hand 
than write one!" Brave words! When Lee could do 
no more, he wearied Moultrie to death with orders and 
instructions for him to build a bridge by which to re- 
treat. The idea of a retreat absolutely never even pre- 
sented itself as a possible contingency to the imperturb- 
able American, who built no bridges ! 

The fort was armed with twenty-six guns of assorted 
sizes, long eighteen and twenty-four pounders being in 
the majority. On the day of the battle, it was garri- 
soned by some four hundred and fifty men, only thirty 
of whom were artillerists. The rest, however, were 
expert riflemen; it was found that their training with 
small arms was of great value in enabling them to 
sight the great guns. Next to Moultrie in command 
was Lieutenant-Colonel Isaac Motte, and the major of 
the regiment was the subsequently famous partizan 
leader Francis Marion. Moultrie and his officers had 
served in the Indian wars of the province, and were 
cool, resolute soldiers. The English plan of attack 
seems to have been for the troops to land upon Long 
Island, pass the inlet which separated them from Sul- 
livan's Island, and which they had been informed was 



The Defense of Fort Sullivan 7 

easily fordable; and then, in conjunction with the ships 
which would silence the AnTerican guns, they would 
storm the position, which would leave the channel free 
and open' the way for their attack on the town. It 
never seems to have occurred to them that the ships 
could have passed the fort without difficulty, as indeed 
was done several years later, and by capturing the city 
render the outworks untenable. 

However, in spite of his contempt for American 
arms, Sir Peter Parker seems to have made his dispo- 
sitions wisely. Pie purposed thaf the Bristol and the 
Experiment, two small line-of-battle ships of fifty guns 
each, and the frigates Active and Solehay, of twenty- 
eight guns each, should assault the fort at close range 
directly in front of it. The frigates Actccon and 
Syren, of twenty-eight guns each, the sloop-of-war 
Sphynx, of twenty-two guns, with the Friendship, the 
Ranger and the St. Laivrenee, small armed ships, were 
ordered to take a position on the west flank of the fort, 
which was there still unfinished, the wall rising only 
seven feet ; though the parapet had been strengthened 
by heavy planking as a protection against possible or 
probable assault this defense would avail little against 
heavy guns. These latter ships were to enfilade the 
works and render them untenable. On the other flank, 
a bomb vessel, the Thunder, was stationed to shell the 
works. 

Unfortunately for the British, the shallowness of 
the water did not permit them to bring the heavy ships 
of the main attacking column nearer than three hun- 
dred and fifty yards, which of course prevented the ef- 
fective use of grape-shot, a main resource for clearing 
an enemy's works in such a contingency. At half past 
ten o'clock in the morning the ships got under way 



8 American Fights and Fighters 

with the flood tide; at a (juarter after eleven the first 
four had anchored at their stations, the Active off the 
east bastion, the Experiment and the Solehay off the 
west bastion, and the Bristol, carrying- Sir Peter Par- 
ker's flag, off the curtain, or wall between the two bas- 
tions. The Sphynx, Actccon and Syren owing to 
mismanagement on the part of the pilots, fouled each 
other disastrously and got aground on a shoal in the 
middle ground. The bomb vessel broke down after 
throwing a few shell into the fort, which produced no 
material effect, as they mainly alighted in a morass 
where their fuses were quenched ; and the three smaller 
vessels, not liking the look of things, and deprived of 
the assistance of the frigates, withdrew without going 
into action at all. This left the two small ships-of-the- 
line and the two light frigates to do the fighting. 

A little after eleven o'clock they poured their heavy 
broadsides of solid shot into the fort, and on the part of 
the British thereafter the firing was fast and furious. 
The shot of the British guns made little or no impres- 
sion upon the soft, spongy palmetto logs into which 
they sank, or through which they penetrated without 
splintering them, only to bury themselves harmlessly 
in the sandy banking between the log walls. On the 
other hand the firing of the Americans was slow but 
dreadfully destructive. At the beginning of the battle 
Aloultrie actually had but twenty-eight charges of pow- 
der per gun ! He sent to General Lee for more 
and received word that if he had exhausted his pow- 
der without driving off the ships he should re- 
tire ! Governor Rutledge, however, sent him a 
small supply and the intrepid Marion volunteered 
with a small party of heroic men to get some from a 
small schooner near by which was fully exposed to the 



The Defense of Fort Sullivan 9 

British fire. Altogether the supply did not amount to 
more than forty rounds. It was enough, however. 

Rutledge had given orders to Moultrie to throw 
away no shot, and these instructions 'were in conso- 
nance with the cool, deliberate spirit of the American 
commander. The riflemen of the fort exhibited won- 
derful marksmanship and scarcely a shot was lost. 
The ofiicers themselves sighted the guns, and their 
bullets nearly always sped to their mark. The heavy 
shot ripped up the planking of the ships in every direc- 
tion. "Mind the commodore, look out for the fifty- 
gun ships!" was the word Moultrie gave to be passed 
among his men, and the execution on these ships was 
dreadful. About noon, when he looked for the coope- 
ration of the army, Sir Peter Parker was informed by a 
message from Clinton that he had found that the pas- 
sage between the islands was some seven feet deep at 
low tide and utterly impracticable. Only the grossest 
indifference on the part of the British had prevented 
this fact from being known for days before. 

Sir Henry Clinton had marched some troops down to 
the inlet, where he was met by a smart fire from the 
American militia, encamped on Sullivan's Island, for 
the purpose of disputing the passage of the inlet and 
supporting the fort ; and after a brief artillery duel be- 
tween his batteries and a single American eighteen 
pounder, under Thompson, wdiich was ineffective on 
both sides, the English marched back again. Later in 
the day, Clinton also embarked a number of troops 
in boats and sailed down the coast with a view to 
effecting a landing on the same Island ; but a num- 
ber of Thompson's militia who took advantage of the 
cover afforded by the sandhills and bushes and 
poured in a hot fire, rendered the operation imprac- 



lo American Fights and Fighters 

ticable — Sir Henry at least had not forgotten Bunker 
Hill and its lessons — so he took his men back to Long 
Island, where they continued their battle with the hot 
sun, the bad water, and the active mosquito, and 
watched Parker banging away furiously at the fort 
for the rest of the day. His excursion had been a no- 
table diversion indeed. 

The wharves and buildings along the shore of 
Charleston were covered with people listening to the 
roar of the guns, watching the attack on the fort, upon 
whose resistance their own future so largely depended. 
There had been flying from a staff the flag of the regi- 
ment, which had been designed by Moultrie himself — 
it was a blue flag with a white crescent in the dexter 
corner, with the word "Liberty" emblazoned upon it — 
when, to the horror of the spectators, they observed 
through a rift in the smoke that the flag was down ! 
It had been shot away, and had fallen on the sand out- 
side of the fort. Their emotions can be imagined. 
That little fort alone stood between them and disaster, 
its capture meant the destruction of their homes, their 
captivity, possible dangers worse than death to their 
wives and children from savages against whom they 
would be unable to protect themselves subsequently. 
Every hope was wrapped up in Moultrie and his gallant 
men — a fact, by the way, of which the latter were fully 
sensible — and it was that which nerved their arms and 
sustained their spirits, it was that which made them 
determine that not a single precious charge of powder 
should l)e wasted. 

Sergeant William Jasper, an heroic soldier, instantly 
climbed through an embrasure, leaped over the parapet, 
seized the flag, tore it from its broken staff and afiixed 
it to a halberd; and untouched by the storm of shot 



The Defense of Fort Sullivan 1 1 

which was poured upon him, planted it as he said 
"in the bastion nearest the enemy," where it flew un- 
harmed during the remainder of the battle. Sergeant 
Macdaniel was mortally wounded by a shot which came 
through an embrasure. As he was carried away from 
the gun platform the brave fellow cried out to his 
brother soldiers, "I am dying, but don't let the cause 
of liberty die with me this day." But there was equal 
heroism on the other side as well. The British had 
expected an easy victory, but they took the dreadful 
punishment they received like the heroes they were. 

As the tide began to ebb, one of the springs on the 
cable of the Bristol was shot away, and the ship swung 
with the tide, presenting her stern to the fort. Her 
condition at once became critical, not to say desperate. 
She was raked again and again ; every man on her 
quarter-deck was either killed or wounded. The brave 
old commodore covered with blood, his clothing torn 
from him by splinters, remained alone at his station, on 
the exposed quarter-deck on which all of the other offi- 
cers stationed there had been killed or wounded, calmly 
refusing to retire to a safer spot while he gave direc- 
tions for extricating the ship from her terrible position. 
Captain John Morris, the commander of the ship, lost 
his right arm, and when the stump had been dressed in- 
sisted on resuming his station by the commodore, and it 
was not until he received several other severe wounds 
from the effects of which he very soon died, that he al- 
lowed himself to be taken below. The Experiment 
was in little better case than the Bristol. The carnage 
on both ships was appalling, amounting to nearly thir- 
ty-five per cent, of their total force. Through the ener- 
gy of Midshipman Saumarez, afterward a famous 
admiral, a new spring was bent to the cable and the 



12 American Fights and Fighters 

broadside of the Bristol was again turned to the fort. 
Sir Peter in all his wars had never stood under a hot- 
ter fire. 

During- the action General Lee came over to the fort 
to see how matters were getting along, and finding 
everything was going well, he returned to his position 
in the city. The officers, wdio had been coolly smoking 
their pipes, received him with all military honors, and 
Moultrie of course said nothing about the bridge, 
though I imagine he wished to do so. The men, most 
of them half-naked, in the fierce sun and heat, deliber- 
ately fought on, refreshed by copious draughts from 
large buckets of grog, w'hich Moultrie mixed with his 
own hand. As the shades of evening descended, Par- 
ker made a last desperate effort to batter down the 
defenses. The firing was by broadsides simultaneous- 
ly, and as the heavy shot from the tremendous dis- 
charges of over one hundred guns smashed upon the 
fort, the walls quivered and trembled so that Moultrie 
thought several times that the merlons between the 
embrasures would be beaten in. However, they still 
held, and after continuing a fierce fire, to which the 
Americans kept up their slow, persistent, annoying, gall- 
ing reply, until most of their ammunition was expend- 
ed, they gave over the attempt. A little after nine 
o'clock in the evening, the British withdrew, all, that is, 
except the frigate Acfccoii, which had not yet succeeded 
in getting off the shoal. By Parker's orders, next 
morning she was set on fire l)y her crew and abandoned. 
The Americans took possession of her, discharged her 
1)attery at the retiring Englishmen, captured her col- 
ors, and several Ijoatloads of arms and supplies, be- 
fore she blew up. 

The loss on the Bristol amounted to forty killed 



The Defense of Fort Sullivan 13 

and seventy-two wounded, including- Captain Morris, 
mortally. The Experiment had twenty-three killed 
and forty-five wounded, her captain losing his right 
arm ; on the Aetive and Solebay, fifteen men were 
killed and wounded ; and the American loss was ten 
killed and twenty-six wounded ! Lord William Camp- 
bell, the quondam royal Governor of South Carolina, 
served on the Bristol as a volunteer and took charge 
of a division on the lower gun deck during the action. 
He was severely injured by a spent ball and after suf- 
fering for two years, died from the effects of the 
blow. The Bristol and the Experiment were nearly 
dismantled, the main and mizzenmasts of the former 
were tottering, the foremast badly wounded. The 
mizzenmast fell over the side early the next day be- 
fore it could be secured, the mainmast was cut away 
fifteen feet below the hounds, the ship w^as completely 
unrigged, and several of her guns had been dismount- 
ed. The Experiment was in a scarcely better condition. 
The Active and Solebay could with difticulty be kept 
afioat. The SpJiynx and the Syren had suffered 
somewhat from the American fire and much more from 
the effects of their collision and grounding. 

Sir Henry Clinton loaded his troops back on the 
transports and, convoyed by a single frigate, the only 
w'ar vessel left seaworthy after the action, sailed away 
and joined Howe's expedition at New York. Parker 
took three weeks to refit his ships when he also de- 
parted. South Carolina and the Southern States gene- 
rally, were free from invasion for at least two years 
and the story of this splendid victory helped to encour- 
age and inspirit the remainder of the Americans in the 
critical period attending the beginning of their great 
struggle for liberty. The greatest praise was given 



14 American Fights and Fighters 

Moultrie and his gallant comrades for their brave de- 
fense of the fort, which in his honor was renamed 
Fort Moultrie, and the commander was made a briga- 
dier-general in the regular Continental service. 

He rose to the rank of major-general thereafter, and 
on one occasion saved Charleston a second time from 
being captured, by the spirited defense he made against 
Prevost's attack. He was unfortunately made pris- 
oner when Charleston was captured by Cornwallis, 
several years later, and remained in captivity during the 
balance of the war. But he resisted every attempt 
which was made by the British to seduce him from the 
American cause, with the same determination that he 
had defended his position. He was several times made 
governor of his native state after independence had 
been achieved, and died early in the present century 
full of years and honors. The heroism of Sergeant 
Jasper was rewarded by the present of an elegant sword 
and the proffer of a lieutenant's commission. He ac- 
cepted the former, but modestly declined the latter on 
the ground that neither by birth, education nor fortune, 
was he a fit person for the command. One of the most 
beautiful women of Charleston presented a pair of 
colors to Moultrie's regiment with the following little 
speech : 

"Your gallant behavior in defense of liberty and 
your country entitles you to the highest honors; ac- 
cept these two standards as a reward justly due your 
regiment; and I make not the least doubt, under 
heaven's protection, you will stand by them as long as 
they can wave in the air of liberty." 

The regiment accepted the colors in the spirit of 
the generous donor. When the ill-fated attempt by 
Howe and d'Estaing was made to storm the British 



, The Defense of Fort Sullivan 15 

lines at Savannah during the war, the flags were planted 
upon the entrenchments by their bearers, Lieutenants 
Bush and Hume, who were both immediately shot down. 
Lieutenant Gray while making an effort to advance 
them met the same fate. Sergeant Jasper successful- 
ly bore them away finally in the repulse, but in so 
doing received his death w^ound — faithful to the last. 
The colors were captured when Charleston was final- 
ly surrendered and they are now among the most 
cherished mementoes of British prowess kept in the 
trophy room in the Tower of London. Certainly no 
flag ever flew over better men than that under which 
Moultrie and Marion commanded and Jasper and Mac- 
daniel foug-ht ! 



WASHINGTON'S GREATEST 
CAMPAIGN 



I. Trenton 

There are three things which determine the relative 
vaUies of mihtary enterprises — the idea, the method 
and the resuh. From these points of view, Washing- 
ton's Trenton and Princeton campaign ranks among 
the most brihiant in history, and its conception and the 
manner of its prosecution stamp him as a soldier of the 
first order. The importance of the end aimed at, and 
attained in large measure, can hardly be overstated. 
Although neither of the engagements which took place 
in carrying out the great idea of it rose to the dignity 
of a battle but must rather be classed as heavy skir- 
mishes, I regard it as one of those decisive operations 
which are turning points in history. Had the re- 
sults been other than they were, the whole course of 
the world would have been altered. In spite of the 
apparent insignificance of the operations, the incidents 
of the campaign, when the material with which it was 
worked out is considered, are as fraught with interest, 
as full of value to the soldier, and evidence as much 
greatness in the leader, as if Washington had held 
under his command a hundred thousand men, and the 

i6 



Washington's Greatest Campaign 17 

little combats had been as great and as sanguinary as 
the gigantic battles of larger wars and later days. It 
is not numbers, but strategy, tactics, personal courage, 
and things achieved, by which we judge the soldier. 

In these operations, which certainly represented the 
culminating period of his career, Washington displayed 
a dash and daring like that of Napoleon in his early 
Italian campaigns, an inflexible capacity of resistance 
and recuperation which suggests the great Frederick 
in his days of adversity, and a determined, dogged, 
not-to-be-denied persistence which calls to mind the 
indomitable Grant. The fate of the Revolution was 
determined right then and there. More than at any 
other given period of that great confliict, the cause of 
human liberty hung in the trembling balance on that 
wild December night. 

The American army had been consistently beaten 
since the ruinous battle of Long Island, six months be- 
fore. Their manoeuvers had been one long series of 
retrograde movements in the face of a superior enemy, 
which, though conducted with great courage and mas- 
terly skill (any fool can lead a charge, it takes a sol- 
dier to retreat without the disorganization and de- 
struction of his army), had as yet proven most 
disastrous to our arms. Post after post had been lost, 
and finally the whole Province of New Jersey had been 
abandoned. The moral effect of the continued retreat 
was exceedingly discouraging to army and nation. 
Washington's army had been reduced by capture, the 
casualties of battle, desertion, straggling and expira- 
tion of terms of enlistment, to a little handful of less 
than two thousand men, the term of service of the major 
part of whom expired with the beginning of the year. 

This little handful had wearily straggled across the 



1 8 American Fights and Fighters 

Delaware River. Taking the precaution, by Washing- 
ton's orders, to gather up and take with them to the 
west bank of that broad stream every boat for sixty 
miles up and down the river, they gained a little respite 
from the slow but persistent pursuit which had forced 
them on. In the absence of transportation, the ad- 
vance of the English was temporarily checked, and the 
hunted Americans had time to breathe. That was all 
Washington wanted. They were yet to learn, these 
red-coats, what manner of man this was whom they 
were driving so relentlessly ahead of them. So, with 
fatal supineness, they made no attempt to build boats — 
they waited. Delays in warfare and in love are always 
dangerous and the subsequent results proved the 
maxim. 

The British absolutely despising their oft-beaten, 
alway-retreating enemy, were cantoned in several scat- 
tered detachments on the east bank of the Delaware; 
going into winter quarters for the time being, to wait 
for the freezing of the river, when it was Howe's in- 
tention to cross on the ice, brush aside the last remnants 
of armed resistance under Washington, occupy Phila- 
delphia, and end the war. Man proposes, but — 
Washington had contemplated the possibility of such 
action and had resolved, if unable to prevent it, to re- 
treat to the mountains of Virginia and keep up a par- 
tizan warfare to an end. This was only a last alterna- 
tive, however, and he had another plan in view. 

The British headquarters and general supply depot 
had been located at New Brunswick. General Grant 
had been left in command. Howe and Cornwallis re- 
turned to New York, and Cornwallis made preparations 
for a trip to England. As soon as Washington dis- 
covered the separation of the British army into differ- 



Washington's Greatest Campaign 19 

ent groups, he conceived the idea of recrossing the 
river, assuming the offensive, fahing upon the scattered 
detachments, beating them in detail, moving on for 
New Brunswick to capture the supphes and clear the 
country, and take a position in the hills about Morris- 
town, where he could threaten New York and protect 
Philadelphia. 

His attack on Trenton was no mere return snarl of 
a goaded animal — it was part of this brilliant plan. He 
had the nucleus for offensive action in his own little 
army, tried by summer's burning heat, by fire and 
water, steel and lead, and now to show themselves im- 
pervious to winter's biting cold. They had been pur- 
sued until their spirits were absolutely upon an edge, 
and the great American felt that he had under his 
command an army of baited lions. It is sometimes a 
bad thing for the conquerors when they press the con- 
quered up against the wall, till the beaten face about 
with nothing behind them but destruction and nothing 
before them but the foe. Men have ever found the 
last ditch an easy place in which to die. That was the 
situation of this patriot army. They literally had no 
clothes, no blankets, no shoes, no provisions, no any- 
thing but arms and souls, but they were not born to 
die like hunted foxes. Washington knciv that he could 
depend upon them. 

He decided to break through the English line at 
Trenton, where there was a large detachment of Hes- 
sian troops commanded by Colonel Rail, comprising 
three regiments. Rail, Lossburg and Anspach, with 
some artillery and cavalry, amounting to about sixteen 
hundred men. Colonel Rail was a dashing soldier who 
had distinguished himself in the storming of Fort 
Washington, and as negligent and confident as he was 
brave. " 



20 American Fights and Fighters 

Washington's plan was that Putnam, who had been 
appointed military governor of the city, should send 
out a large force from Philadelphia to skirmish and 
engage the attention of Von Donop, who had command 
of a large detachment of English and Germans at 
Bordentown and vicinity. General Ewing, in the cen- 
ter, with a portion of the militia of New Jersey and 
Pennsylvania, which had been called out by the most 
desperate appeals, was to cross two miles below Tren- 
ton at Bond's Ferry to interpose between Von Donop 
and Rail, to prevent any junction and to intercept 
any fugitives from Washington's attack. On the right, 
Gates and Cadwalader, with a larger body of Penn- 
sylvania militia, was to cross at Bristol and advance 
upon the posts at Mt. Holly and vicinity ; Washington, 
on the left with the Continental line, was to cross above 
the town, and deliver the main attack in person. Thus 
Von Donop would be kept off, Rail overwhelmed, and 
the dash made for New Brunswick, after the divisions 
had united. Before the campaign began, General 
Charles Lee, who was as great a traitor as Benedict 
Arnold, without any of Arnold's redeeming qualities, 
had been captured by the British, fortunately for the 
American cause, and General Sullivan had brought to 
Washington's aid the remnants of the northern army. 
This increased his available force to about twenty-five 
hundred men. 

The night of Christmas day, Wednesday, December 
25, 1776, was chosen for the attempt. The surprise 
was to take place in the early morning of the day after. 
Washington counted upon the well known convivial 
habits of the Germans and the relaxation attendant up- 
on the Christmas festivities, to facilitate his operations. 
The army had been divided into two divisions. Gen- 
eral Greene was to command the first division, Gen- 



Washington's Greatest Campaign 21 

eral Sullivan, the second. Washington was to go 
with the first. About six o'clock in the evening his 
own detachment, which he was to lead, was paraded 
on the Pennsylvania side at McKonkey's Ferry, nine 
miles above Trenton, and immediately thereafter the 
passage of the river began. It was a clear moonlight 
night. There was a light snow upon the ground which 
had fallen during the day, but it was very cold and 
growing colder with each succeeding moment. 

The river, the current of which flowed swiftly by the 
place of crossing, where the width of the stream was 
about twelve hundred feet, was filled with huge cakes 
of ice, which made the attempt to pass it both difiicult 
and dangerous. Large scows, bateaux, and a kind of 
trading vessels called Durham boats, sharp-bowed, 
double-ended affairs, thirty or forty feet long, had been 
provided; and under the skilful charge of Glover's 
regiment of Gloucester and Marblehead fishermen, who 
had already done such signal service in the retreat at 
Long Island, the passage was effected. Washington 
had hoped to begin his march to Trenton by midnight, 
but it could not be. It was eleven o'clock before the in- 
fantry had all crossed. The cold had grown more 
intense with every passing moment. The sky was now 
deeply overcast, and a few flakes of snow gave ominous 
presage of an approaching storm. 

The little army was compelled to wait for five hours 
on the low bleak hills, unsheltered from the tempest of 
snow and sleet which raged with ever increasing fury, 
until the artillery under the indefatigable Knox could 
get over, which v/as not until after three o'clock in the 
morning. All hope of an early surprise was of neces- 
sity abandoned. While they waited, two men arrived 
with messages for Washington. The first apprised 



22 American Fights and Fighters 

him that the miserable Gates, upon whom he had de- 
pended, had left Cadwalader's detachment, and gone 
to Congress, which had fled precipitately to Baltimore. 
Cadwalader had made desperate and heroic attempts 
to get over, but that owing to the ice which banked up 
against the shore at the side of the river, he had been 
unable to land a single piece of artillery or horse, and 
had therefore given over the attempt and would be un- 
able to cooperate. The second message was from 
Ewing to the effect that he had not even attempted to 
cross in view of the conditions. The messengers had 
found Washington by following the bloody footprints 
of the barefooted men in the drifting snow! 

Suggestions were made that they recross and try it 
again some other time, but Washington had retreated 
just as long as he was going to, and he resolved — mo- 
mentous decision that it was — to push on with his own 
force and after he had done what he could, recross and 
then prepare to try it again. The watchword given 
by the commander himself was "victory or death" and 
that represented his state of mind perfectly. It was 
four o'clock in the morning when they started for 
Trenton. There were two roads which led from Mc- 
Konkey's Ferry to Trenton, one near the river, the 
other further inland. They strike the town at different 
ends. The lower, or river road, enters the village of 
Trenton, which then contained upward of a hundred 
houses, near the stone bridge, which crossed the Assun- 
pink Creek which bounds the southern side of the 
village. The upper, called the Pennington road, enters 
the town at the junction of the two broad streets which 
ran together at a sharp angle. Washington and Greene 
took the upper road, Sullivan, the lower. 

What were the thoughts of those men of desperate 



Washington's Greatest Campaign 23 

purpose as they toiled through the drifts on those fro- 
zen roads, cut to pieces by the pitiless sleet, torn by the 
fierce wind which searched out every rent in their 
flimsy, tattered garments? They were making a way 
for liberty, blazing the path of freedom with their own 
bleeding feet — marking the trail as it has ever been 
marked, by the blood of man — staggering, fainting, 
freezing, pressing on, and the genius of Independence 
walking by their side. A via dolorosa of suffering, 
this, in that bitter Nativity night, and those who fol- 
lowed worthy subjects of that great Master, who ever 
fought the battle of human freedom, even to the awful 
Cross ! 

About seven o'clock a message came up from Sulli- 
van on the river road to Washington on the inland 
road. The snow had wet the priming of their fire- 
arms, and they could not be used. What was to be 
done? "Tell him to push on with the bayonet," said 
the grim commander, "the town must be taken and I 
am resolved to take it." When Sullivan's men heard 
this reply delivered by the officer, in their impetuosity 
they began slipping the bayonets over the gun-barrels 
without order, and gaily resumed the advance. It was 
eight in the morning when the head of the upper col- 
umn struck the Hessian advance picket on the Penning- 
ton road. All of the men comprising the guard had 
sought shelter in a hut from the driving snow and the 
furious sleet. Without a moment's hesitation the 
Americans went forward at a double-quick; at the 
same time the other column on the river road came in 
contact with the picket there. The sharp rattle of mus- 
ketry broke the stillness of the wintry morning at 
both ends of the little town. In the midst of the 
drifting snow, the startled Hessians retreated rapidly 
upon the main guard. The Americans came forward 



24 American Fights and Fighters 

with determination and soon all of the advance parties 
of the enemy were in the fnll retreat toward the town. 
There the drums were beating the assembly wildly, 
and the terrified Hessians were running through the 
streets half-dressed toward the rallying points, so 
far as they had been designated. Rail, whose in- 
dulgences the previous day and night had been long 
and deep, had awakened and hastily dressed himself 
and descended to the street. 

The whirling snow and sleet prevented the Hessians 
from discovering the force of their opponents even at 
this juncture. The alert Americans were soon extend- 
ing along the upper road past the village to encircle the 
town from the left. Other regiments started down 
toward the river to meet the advance of Sullivan's 
division. The artillery was massed at the head of 
King and Queen Streets, under Washington's direction, 
and a steady fire raked the two main avenues of the 
village. Several hasty and entirely ineffective shots 
were fired in return by two guns of the regiment Rail 
in King Street, but before they became dangerous, they 
were captured by a spirited charge led by Captain 
William Washington and Lieutenant James Monroe, 
afterward President of the United States. These offi- 
cers were both wounded before the guns were taken 
and turned upon the Hessians. Meanwhile Sullivan's 
men had seized the stone bridge over the Assunpink 
on the right, routing the cavalry picket; Stark's regi- 
ment had extended to the left, parallel to the main 
streets, and the other regiments were led out beyond the 
town to encircle it from below ; their artillery mean- 
while played upon the huddled enemy attempting to 
escape through the wood, and by a ford, to pass the 
creek. The American troops took cover behind fences, 
walls and houses, and poured a withering fire upon the 



Washington's Greatest Campaign 25 

already demoralized Hessians who finally retreated out- 
side of the town to an apple orchard on the east where 
they re-formed. Under the orders of Rail himself, 
they bravely attempted to retake the town, which was 
full of their plunder, and charged forward with the 
bayonet. The Americans met this charge by a volley 
and countercharge. It is interesting to note that as the 
Continentals rushed forward determinedly upon the 
wavering Dutchmen, they shouted with a grim humor 
which savors marvelously of the present, the opening- 
words of Thomas Paine's famous tract, written at this 
period, "These are the times that try men's souls!" 

Certainly the words were apposite to the Hessians' 
situation. Rail, their commander, had fallen mortally 
wounded. Von Dechow, the second in command, like- 
wise. Many other officers who had gallantly exposed 
themselves in the attempt to rally and lead the men 
forward had been killed or wounded. Forrest's bat- 
tery was pouring in a withering fire of grape. Greene's 
men were pressing them from the north, Stark's from 
the west, Sullivan's from the south. Gun after gun 
was being brought up on their flanks and in their rear. 
The Assunpink bridge and ford had been secured after 
several hundred had escaped. There was no salvation 
for the rest. In panic terror they lowered their flags 
and threw down their arms. The actual fighting had 
lasted about half an hour. The battle was over. 
"This is a glorious day for our country," said Wash- 
ington. 

The killed and wounded of the enemy numbered 
over one hundred, the captured nearly nine hundred 
and over five hundred escaj^ed. One thousand stand 
of arms, six field pieces, and a large quantity of sup- 
plies and munitions of war came into the hands of the 
Americans, who had only two killed and two wounded ! 



26 American Fights and Fighters 

So far everything had gone well. The failure of 
the other divisions to cross, however, had rendered 
Washington's position, in spite of his success, most^pre- 
carious ; so with a prudence as great as his courage, he 
at once decided to cross to the west bank of the river 
once more. Allowing his troops until the afternoon 
to recuperate, as the shades of night advanced they 
retraced their steps, but in what different spirits. They 
had demonstrated their right to be. They were an 
army, their leader a soldier. No one would ever 
doubt it again, certainly not the British. That road 
which in the morning had been the path of freezing 
despair, was now the way of the conquerors. Accom- 
panied by all of their prisoners — and what a contrast 
there was between the well fed and well clothed Hes- 
sians and their ragged captors — they recrossed the 
river, and occupied their old camps. Tw^o of the men 
froze to death, and over one thousand were prostrated 
by the exposure incident to the fearful hardships they 
had undergone. More determined than ever, Washing- 
ton despatched letters and couriers in every direction to 
assemble his forces and move upon New Brunswick, 
which was still the goal of his endeavor. 

'' ^ The successful issue of his daring adventure en- 
tailed yet further responsibilities, and the campaign 
was only just begun. As for himself, the w^orld now 
knew him for a soldier. And a withered old man in 
the palace of the Sans Souci, in Berlin, who had himself 
known victories and defeats, who had himself stood at 
bay, facing a world in arms so successfully that men 
called him The Great,' called this and the subsequent 
campaign the finest military exploit of the age !" 

1 From the author's book " For Love of Country," by courtesy of 
Charles Scribner's Sons. 







"5 S 



WASHINGTON'S GREATEST 
CAMPAIGN 



II. Princeton 

There was mounting in hot haste on the Jersey side 
of the river when the astonishing news of the feh 
swoop on the Hessians at Trenton was carried bagk to 
the neghgent and over-confident British commanders 
in New York. Washington was still to be reckoned 
with, it appeared, and with an energy utterly foreign to 
their previous movements, the various advanced posts 
to the south were abandoned, the troops in the northern 
part of the state were concentrated at New Brunswick 
and marched thence to 'Princeton, to which place the 
lower division had repaired. Lord Cornwallis, the 
ablest of the British soldiers in America, was put in 
command with orders to catch and crush the pestilent 
American who never knew when he was beaten, or who 
refused to stay so if he knew it — a harder task, this, 
than either Howe or his gallant subordinate had ever 
set themselves to accomplish- before, and one they found 
quite impossible after all. All that they desired, how- 
ever, was an opportunity to get at him, they thought, 
and this opportunity Washington, with his eyes still 
fixed on the main plan, of which the engagement at 

27 



28 American Fights and Fighters 

Trenton had only been a detail, was quite willing to 
afford them. 

Fired by the splendid success of the Continentals, 
the Pennsylvania and New Jersey militia under Cad- 
walader, Ewing and Mifflin, at last got across the river 
and established themselves in the vicinity of Burling- 
ton, and on the twenty-ninth of December, Washington 
followed with his staff and escort and took up his 
headquarters upon the scene of his successful battle. 
It took two days for his victorious Continental troops 
to get across, however, on account of the heavy ice in 
the river, but by the evening of the last day of the year 
they were all assembled at Trenton. It was a fateful 
hour for the Revolution — all the hours of this campaign 
w'ere fateful — and a mischance at any time or place 
would have ended it. The period of enlistment of 
most of the men expired that night ; if they left him, 
Washington would find himself on the morrow aban- 
doned by the veteran and heroic soldiery who had 
enabled him to inaugurate his great campaign, and 
would be forced to rely entirely upon the raw and un- 
tried militia. 

He was equal to the emergency, however, for he had 
the men paraded, and rode along the lines, address- 
ing the several regiments in the brief soldierly style in 
which he was a master, imploring them to remain with 
him untd he could complete his campaign, telling them 
of the importance of their action, firing their hearts 
with his own determined resolution and patriotic de- 
votion, pledging his private fortune — in which glori- 
ous example he was followed by many of his officers, 
gentlemen of condition and means — for their long ar- 
rears of pay, and promising them a small bounty 
besides. He was seconded in his appeal by all of his 



Washington's Greatest Campaign 29 

officers, and the results were most happy. The men 
unanimously elected to stay with him for at least six 
weeks, or until the campaign was terminated one way 
or the other. We, to-day, can scarcely imagine what 
this decision involved. It was the expression of wil- 
lingness on the part of the naked, barefoot, hungry, 
frozen men, to stay and fight against overwhelming 
odds through the dreary winter, when they could have 
gone back home to a situation so superior to their pres- 
ent condition, that it might have been called luxury; 
and the glory of the men should not be lost sight of in 
the glory of the man. To that army of patriots our 
eternal gratitude, nay, the gratitude of all those who 
love and cherish and would fain fight for human liber- 
ty, is surely due. 

Stout old Robert Morris now sent up to his friend 
George Washington the money he had raised by going 
from door to door with extended hand among his 
friends in Philadelphia. To such desperate straits had 
they been reduced in the field, that the first instalment of 
less than five hundred dollars had been most gratefully 
received ; and when a day or so later he made a further 
glorious remittance of fifty thousand dollars, the faith- 
ful troops, for the first time in many months, were paid 
in part. 

By Washington's orders there were skirmishing par- 
ties of horse and light infantry scattered all through 
the country between Trenton and Princeton, where it 
was soon learned that Cornwallis had assembled some 
eight thousand men preparatory to the dash for Tren- 
ton. Much valuable information was gathered and 
some prisoners made, besides great annoyance, inflicted 
upon the British. The English and Hessians had be- 
haved with frightful barbarity in their march through, 



30 American Fights and Fighters 

and occupation of, the country ; there had been murder, 
pillage, rapine, and outraging of women, and now the 
enraged country people hung upon their flanks, aided 
the American skirmishers, and cut off unwary strag- 
glers without mercy. Washington had ordered Cad- 
walader from the Cross Wicks and Mifflin fromBorden- 
town to join him at Trenton. After a hard night 
march in the bitter cold, sleet and rain, over frightful 
roads, they reached Trenton on the second day of the 
year about noon. These reinforcements raised his lit- 
tle force to a total of about five thousand men, three- 
fifths of them being militia who had probably never 
heard a shot fired in anger. 

Cornwallis leaving Grant's brigade, three regiments 
of British, about thirteen hundred men, under Lieuten- 
ant Colonel Mawhood at Princeton, as a reserve and to 
protect his rear, advanced early on the morning of 
January 2, 1777, in great haste toward Trenton. 
All day long he was compelled to fight his way for- 
ward against a heavy skirmishing fire from the 
riflemen under Greene, who took advantage of their op- 
portunity to pour a galling fire upon the regular troops. 
Washington needed one more day to assemble and unite 
his force, and Greene agreed to give it to him. The 
delay gave Washington time to withdraw his army 
across the Assunpink, swollen with the winter rains, 
and post them on the high ground south of it in a 
strong and advantageous position, for two miles along 
the bank. The artillery was massed at the famous 
stone bridge. 

In the gray of the evening, the van of Cornwallis' 
wearied troops, the American riflemen having ' been 
cleared out of the northern side of the creek, after severe 
fighting and heavy loss on the part of the British, ad- 



Washington's Greatest Campaign 31 

vanced to take Washington's position. Three separate 
charges were made upon the bridge, and were repulsed 
with loss. But the British subordinate commanders 
urged Cornwallis to push the attack and end the matter 
then and there. The creek was fordable in half a dozen 
places, and all that would be necessary would be to 
make a simultaneous attack upon the bridge and the 
fords with their superior forces, place themselves upon 
the other bank, turn the flank of the rebel army, drive 
Washington into the atl de sac formed by the creek and 
the river and hammer him to pieces at leisure and at 
pleasure. 

The British were tired out, however; they had 
marched and fought in the mud all day; there was no 
escape for the "old fox" now ; they had him cornered at 
last and there was no need for hurry — so they reasoned. 
Cornwallis resolved to wait until morning. This is 
where he made the mistake of his life. Washington 
was as keenly appreciative of the exigencies of the situ- 
ation of his army as Cornwallis and his officers. He 
had no mind to be caught in that trap, he had not put 
himself in that position for nothing, and his plan for 
extricating himself had been already matured. He 
would try an offensive defense. As the night fell and 
the British went into camp, he caused tremendous fires 
to be built all along his lines next to the river bank, 
which were to be continuously fed by a small body of 
men detailed for the purpose, who were to act as sen- 
tries and to move about, make a great deal of noise and 
expose themselves as much as possible with safety, to 
convey the idea that they were in great force and very 
actively preparing for the morrow. The rest of the 
army muffled the wheels of the guns, and sent the 
heavier baggage down toward Philadelphia, where 



32 American Fights and Fighters 

Putnam had sent a detachment to meet and protect it, 
and then about eleven o'clock at night, in little detach- 
ments in rapid succession, they silently stole away. 
Whispering their orders, making no sound, giving no 
alarm, they followed a long roundabout road called the 
Quaker road which passed through the village of 
Sand Town, and for several miles led away from the 
river toward the southeast before it made an abrupt 
turn to the north. The weather had changed, the wind 
came from the north and the wet, muddy, impassable 
roads froze as hard as iron ; it grew bitter cold once 
more, as it had before the attack on Trenton. They 
crept cautiously around the left flank of Cornwallis' 
sleeping army, and headed for Princeton, to that goal 
for which the indomitable American had been making 
since Christmas day — the stores at New Brunswick. To 
extricate an army safely from a desperate situation 
has ever been accounted a work of great generalship; 
no army was ever moved more quickly, dexterously and 
ably than this one. The British never dreamed they 
had gone until morning. 

It was another desperate march over the badly 
cleared, stump encumbered roads. When the morning 
came, clear, very cold, the ground covered with hoar 
frost, the advance under General Mercer reached the 
lower bridge over Stony Brook Creek and, crossing the 
bridge, went up the river bank toward another bridge 
which crosses it on the direct road to Trenton, which 
they had intended to hold as long as possible and then 
destroy, to check the advance of Cornwallis ; while the 
rest of the army under Washington continued by an- 
other road through the trees and, sheltered by the 
hills, on toward the College and village of Princeton. 
A part of the British detachment at Princeton had 



Washington's Greatest Campaign 33 

crossed the Stony Brook bridge already on the march to 
join Cornwallis, when this advance regiment, the seven- 
teenth under Mawhood in person, caught sight of 
Mercer's men, the sunlight gleaming on the gun-barrels 
through the trees betraying them. The English re- 
traced their steps and recrossed the bridge at once. 

To deploy on both sides was the work of a few mo- 
ments. There was a little rise of ground off to the 
right which would make a strong defensive position. 
Both parties rushed headlong for it immediately. The 
Americans were the quicker and lined up on it pouring 
a heavy fire into the advancing British, which did great 
execution. The red-coats were most gallantly led, 
however, and proved themselves soldiers of the highest 
class. In spite of the withering ritie fire, they poured 
in a return volley and covered by the smoke, they des- 
perately charged the American position at the point of 
the bayonet. General jMercer on a white horse was in 
front of his men, by his side Colonel Haslet of the 
Delaware regiment was standing dismounted. The 
first volley killed Mercer's horse. throwing him heavily; 
he rose to his feet at once, however, to encourage his 
men. The same volley sent a bullet crashing into Has- 
let's brain. Many others were killed and wounded. 
The Continentals were thrown into some confusion by 
this fierce discharge, delivered scarcely a hundred feet 
away, and as this brigade was most unfortunately un- 
provided with bayonets, they resisted stubbornly for a 
few minutes with clubbed muskets, and then gave way, 
retreating back toward the main body on the lower 
road. 

Mercer, sword in hand, threw himself before the 
fugitives, rallied a few of his officers and men and 
fiercelv attacked the oncoming British. He was beat- 



34 American Fights and Fighters 

en to the ground, called a rebel, asked to surrender, 
and when he answered in indignation with a sword cut, 
was thrust through and through with the bayonets, 
and left for dead on the field. He died a few days 
after the battle in great agony, leaving behind him a 
stainless and honored name. 

At this juncture, when the British were sweeping 
everything before them, the Pennsylvania militia 
dashed out of the wood. They had been sent up on 
the double-quick to the rescue by Washington, who had 
heard the noise of the conflict. Undaunted by this new 
enemy, the British, with admirable precision, which won 
Washington's admiration and commendation, faced 
quickly about and began to move forward to apply the 
deadly cold steel again, and to try to take Moulder's 
Philadelphia battery. The militia hastily returned the 
fire of the enemy, but as the smoke blew away, they saw 
that the British were unchecked, and as the red-coats 
came fiercely on, the American line began to waver. 
They had never been in action before, and a hand to 
hand conflict was more than they bargained for; only 
a veteran could meet the British bayonet after all. An 
incipient panic was there. One more moment and they 
too had been in retreat, but the hour brought the man. 

Attended by one or two staff officers, Washington 
galloped recklessly on the field ; one glance put him in 
possession of the situation. The Americans were be- 
ing routed ; he could not fight a long drawn out battle 
here; whatever was to be done must be done at once. 
Cornwallis had already heard the roar of 'the guns at 
Trenton, and awaking to find himself outgeneraled 
at once discovered Washington's escape, and had 
pushed his army forward at the double-quick. If the 
British could hold the Americans in play for a short 



Washington's Greatest Campaign 35 

space of time, the veterans of Cornwallis would be upon 
them. Without a second's hesitation, Washington 
rode by Mercer's shattered brigade and called upon 
them to advance, and then dashed down the wavering 
Pennsylvania line, turning his horse as he came before 
the main body of the advancing British, and by the 
very force of his splendid personality led the erstwhile 
hesitating militia down upon their enemies in a surpris- 
ing charge, both parties firing before they met. There 
was a sharp hand to hand struggle, with Washington in 
the midst of it. At the same moment, the other regi- 
ments of the Americans came up and took up a position 
on the flank of the British, and poured into them a 
deadly fire. Moulder's Philadelphia battery raked the 
valley with grape. Washington was in the thick of it 
all. He was lost sight of by his aides in the smoke for 
the moment, and when it cleared away he was discov- 
ered mad with the excitement of the battle leading on 
the men. A born fighter, he ! He bore a charmed life, 
for amid the hail of bullets, not one had touched him. 
The British now were in full retreat; a few broke 
away and ran toward Trenton, but the greater part 
made for Princeton. Washington pressed his advan- 
tage to the fullest limit. The Americans were sent 
forward to attack the other two British regiments com- 
ing to the rescue. They dashed at them before they 
had time to form and irresistibly overwhelmed them, 
capturing large numbers and utterly putting the rest to 
flight in a wild rout. Some of them, to the number of 
about two hundred, took refuge in Nassau Hall, the 
college building, whence they were at once dislodged 
and captured. After following the thoroughly terror- 
ised British who had escaped, for a short time, Wash- 
ington, having no cavalry, gave over the pursuit. 



36 American Fio^hts and Fighters 

The British lost about five hundred, including killed, 
wounded and captured, no less than one hundred be- 
ing left dead upon the field, which shows the fierceness 
of the hand to hand fighting; the total American loss 
was about one hundred, including many valuable offi- 
cers. The three British regiments had been utterly 
defeated and turned into a disorganized mob ; their re- 
treat was a pell-mell rout. 

But now when the goal of his endeavor — the stores, 
material and treasure at New Brunswick — was almost 
within his grasp, he was compelled to abandon it. 
Suffering humanity absolutely could do no more. The 
troops were completely exhausted by their fight of the 
day before, their night march, their desperate battle, 
their long fast and the intense cold. For more than 
thirty hours they had been in action or on the march; 
most of them had received nothing to eat. "If I could 
have had eight hundred fresh troops I could have done 
it," said Washington. Alas, there were no fresh 
troops to be had. They fell out of the ranks asleep 
whenever they halted. Even these iron men must have 
rest. Within reaching distance, these untoward cir- 
cumstances compelled him to refrain from New Bruns- 
wick. Reluctantly Washington headed his men to- 
ward the heights of Morristown. 

The British army under Cornwallis had been moved 
with incredible celerity. A little party of Americans 
with a heavy field piece delayed the advance somewhat, 
a broken bridge delayed it still further, and though the 
British, unable to repair it, had waded breast-high 
through the icy stream in their endeavors to catch 
him, Washington effected his escape. Cornwallis, in 
alarm for his stores, pushed on to New Brunswick to 
save them, and battle and campaign were over. 



Washington's Greatest Campaign 37 

The Revolution was saved. Washington, with his 
weak, inferior army, had so manoeuvered that he had, in 
spite of liis disadvantages, twice struck the enemy with 
superior force at the point of contact, and routed him. 
His movements were an early ilhistration of the modern 
phrasing of an old maxim, to the effect that the art of 
war consists in "getting there hrst with the most men !" 
In addition to his soldierly ability he had shown his 
capacity as a statesman. His enterprise was underta- 
ken at that precise moment when victory was vital to 
the success of the struggle, not merely from a military 
standpoint, but in order to maintain the drooping 
spirits of the nation then "borning,"and to demonstrate 
to the world that the birth was not to be a still one. 
There never was any doubt of the ultimate success of 
the Revolution after that, and it was settled right then 
and there. 

" ^ To complete this brief resume of one of the re- 
markable campaigns of history, AVashington strongly 
fortified himself on Cornwallis's flank at Morristown, 
menacing each of the three depots held by the Britisli 
outside New York ; Putnam advanced from Philadel- 
phia to Trenton, with the militia; and Heath moved 
down to the highlands of the Hudson. The country 
people of New Jersey rose and cut off scattered detach- 
ments of the British in every direction, until the whole 
of the field N\as eventually abandoned by them, except 
Amboy, Newark and New Brunswick. The world wit- 
nessed the singular spectacle of a large, well-appointed 
army of veteran soldiery, under able leaders, shut up in 
practically one spot, New York and a few near-by vil- 
lages, and held there inexorably by a phantom army 

1 Taken from the author's novel " For Love of Country," by the cour- 
tesy of Chnrles Scribner's Sons. 



38 American Fights and Fighters 

which was never more than half the size of that it held 
in check. 

"The results of the six months' campaign were to 
be seen in the possession of the city of New York by 
the British army. That army which had won, except 
the last two, all the battles in which it had engaged, 
which had followed the Americans through six months 
of disastrous defeat and retreat, and had overrun two 
colonies, now had nothing to show for all its efforts 
but the ground upon which it stood. And this was the 
result of the genius, the courage, the audacity of one 
man — George Washington. The world was astound- 
ed, and he took an assured place thenceforward among 
the first soldiers of that or any age. 

"Even the English themselves could not withhold 
their admiration. The gallant and brave Cornwallis, 
a soldier of no mean ability himself, and well able to 
estimate what could be done with a small and feeble 
force, never forgot his surprise at the Assunpink ; and 
when he congratulated Washington, at the surrender 
of Yorktown years after, upon the brilliant combina- 
tion which had resulted in the capture of the army, he 
added these words : 'But, after all, your excellency's 
achievements in the Jerseys were such that nothing 
could surpass them !' 

"And the witty and wise old cynic, Mr. Horace Wal- 
pole, with his usual discrimination, wrote to a friend. 
Sir Horace Mann, when he heard of the affair at Tren- 
ton, the night march to Princeton, and the successful 
attack there : 'Washington, the dictator, has shown 
himself both a Fabius and a Camillus. His march 
through our lines is allowed to have been a prodigy of 
generalship.' " 



PAUL JONES' GREATEST 
BATTLE. 



On the evening of Thursday, September 30, 1779, a 
rather small, brown faced, dark haired man, about thir- 
ty-two years of age, and of a melancholy, poetic and 
even scholarly cast of countenance, clad in a blue naval 
uniform, stood on the weather-side of the high poop 
deck of a large war-ship, looking keenly about him with 
his bright, brilliant black eyes. Sometimes his glance 
fell meditatively upon two gallant white ships under 
full sail, men-of-war evidently, which were slowly 
crossing his course at a right angle a mile or two ahead 
of him, and making in toward the not distant land the 
while. Anon, with thoughtful vision, he surveyed the 
crowded decks before and beneath him; the rude, mot- 
ley men, half-naked and armed with cutlass or pike 
and pistol, who were grouped about the grim great 
guns protruding menacingly through the open ports ; 
the old gun captains squinting along the breech and 
blowing their smoking matches while looking to the 
priming of the guns; the little groups of pig-tailed vet- 
erans, sail trimmers, assembled about the masts; the 
brilliantly uniformed soldiers, or marines, in the scarlet 
and white of France ; the agile topmen hanging in great 
human clusters over the broad tops above his head. 

39 



40 American Fights and Fighters 

Sometimes he turned about and swept tbe sea behind 
him with his eager gaze, frowning in high displeasure 
at what he saw. 

The soft hght of the setting sun streamed over the 
larboard quarter, and threw into high relief the lonely 
officer on the weather-side of the ship. Seamanship 
spoke in the careless yet confident poise of the well-knit 
muscular figure, as he unconsciously balanced himself 
and easily met the roll of the ship in the sea ; intelligence 
and kindness sparkled in his eyes ; power and force 
were instinct in every line of his aggressive person; 
and determination evidenced itself in the compressed 
lip, the firm, resolute mouth, and the tightly closed hand 
which hung easily by his side. The gentle breeze of 
the evening tenderly and softly fell on the worn sails 
of the ancient ship, swelling the soiled and weather- 
beaten cloths of canvas out in graceful, tremulous 
curves as if in caress, as she swept slowly toward the 
enemy. The ripple of the waves clinging about her 
cut- water alone broke the silence. The scene was as 
peaceful and as quiet as if the loud calling of the drum 
which had so lately re-echoed along the decks had been 
an invitation to church service, instead of a stern sum- 
mons to quarters for action. A faint smell of balm 
and spicery which clung about the ship, a reminder of 
her distant voyages in Eastern seas, was like incense to 
the soul. 

Off toward the side of the sinking sun rose the bold 
shore of England. Flamborough headland, crowned 
by a lofty tower already sending a broad beam of 
warning light to voyaging mariners out over the 
waters, thrust out a salient wedge of massive rock- 
bound coast in rude, wave piercing angle through the 
tossing sea. To the east the full moon, already some 



Paul Jones' Greatest Battle 41 

hours high, shot the soft silver of her rays, mingled 
with the fading gold of the dying day, over the pallid 
ocean. At this moment the mellow tones of the ship's 
bell forward striking three couplets in quick succession 
awakened the commander from the reveries in which 
he had been indulging, and he turned to find his first 
lieutenant mounting the poop deck ladder to report 
the ship clear for action. The dark expressive eye of 
the captain lingered affectionately upon the form of the 
lithe, bright-eyed, honest and able young subordinate 
who had yet to see his twenty-fourth birthday. Be- 
tween the two officers subsisted the fullest confidence 
and the deepest affection. 

Who was the lonely captain ? The greatest novelist 
of England calls him a traitor. One of the most prom- 
inent naval authorities of to-day, from the same proud 
nation, describes him as a blackguard. Popular feel- 
ing among his contemporary enemies considered him as 
neither more nor less than a bloodthirsty, murdering 
pirate. The captain of the ship which he was about to 
conquer is reputed to have most ungraciously expressed 
his regret at having been compelled "to surrender to 
a man who fought with a halter around his neck." But 
the people who made and loved the flag, the Stars and 
Stripes, which fluttered above his head, and gave it a 
high place in the glorious blazonry of nations, told a 
different tale. The admiration of Washington, the in- 
corruptible soldier and leader ; the beloved of Franklin, 
the discerning statesman and philosopher; the friend 
of Robert Morris, the brilliant financier and patriot; 
John Paul Jones, the son of a poor Scotch gardener, 
who had left his native land in infancy, and who had 
been brought up with the scanty advantages afforded 
by life from childhood passed upon the sea, rose, against 



42 American Fights and Fighters 

every sort of discouragement by sheer merit alone, to 
be the greatest figure in the naval history of his adopted 
country for nearly a hundred years. 

By his indefatigable resolution and unsurpassable 
valor, his wonderful technical skill and fascinating per- 
sonality, he became a Chevalier of France, an Admiral 
of Russia, the friend at once of two queens, one the 
most beautiful and unfortunate, the other the greatest 
and most splendid, of his age. He was an honored 
associate of the king of a great country, and yet never 
renounced that which he considered his proudest title 
to honor, and by which in that final end of things in 
which the truth that is in a man speaks out, he loved 
to describe himself, ''a citizen of the United States." 

This was a man who had been an apprentice boy at 
twelve, a sea ofiicer at fifteen, a captain at twenty-one; 
who, in a slight inconsiderable vessel, a small war-brig, 
had rendered most notable service to his chosen country 
in the face of war vessels of overwhelming force ; who, 
in a crank lightly built sloop-of-war, the Ranger, a year 
ago, had swept the Irish Channel, terrified the whole 
western seaboard of England, captured in fair fight a 
regularly commissioned English sloop-of-war of equal 
force with and more heavily manned than his own ; and 
all this with a crew of mutineers, refusing to obey his 
orders and even threatening his life at the last moment 
before the action. 

His hands had hoisted the first American flag that 
ever fluttered from a masthead, the pine tree rattle- 
snake flag, with its motto "Don't tread on me," which 
seems somehow significant of the man himself; the 
same hand later on had thrown to the breeze the first 
banner of the Stars and Stripes that was ever seen upon 
the ocean; his address and resolution had elicited, in 



Paul Jones' Greatest Battle 43 

the way of a naval salute, the first official and public 
recognition of the new figure among the nations of the 
world from the authorized representative of a recog- 
nized government. As a fighter, as a lover, as a dip- 
lomat, he was among the first men of his time. He 
loved glory and fame and duty with a passionate devo- 
tion, and as he stated, "ever looked out for the Honor 
of the American flag." He was afterward thanked by 
Congress, made the head of the American Navy, and 
especially commended in a public letter to the King of 
France, his friend, an unique honor in our history. 
Before he died he had participated in "twenty-three 
battles and solemn rencontres by sea." 

A pirate, a traitor, a blackguard, this? Nay, as true 
a man as ever fought for human freedom, as brave an 
officer as ever overcame heart-breaking adversity, as 
gallant a sailor as ever trod a heaving deck, and as 
sweet a lover as ever kissed a lady's hand. In the hun- 
dreds of letters written by and to him still extant, many 
of them on affaires du cocnr, there is not a single coarse 
or rude expression to be found. I sum him up the hero 
and the gentleman. Not without his faults, of course, 
which I cheerfully refrain from cataloguing — always 
a poor business — but they were not great and were 
easily counterbalanced by his many virtues. 

Look at him now as he approaches the culmination 
of his career. After his brilliant cruise in the Ranger, 
unable to obtain a decent war vessel, forced to put up 
with a nondescript antique, a worn out East Indiaman, 
the Due de Diiras, now renamed the Bonhonime Rieh- 
ard, which had been filled with old and makeshift guns ; 
a ship so rotten that it was impossible to make the nec- 
essary alterations to properly fit her for her new ser- 
vice. Attended by a squadron under his nominal com- 



44 American Fights and P^ighters 

mancl, one of the ships of which, and the best one, was 
manned largely by British seamen, and commanded by 
an insane coward; at this very moment previous acts 
of mutiny were culminating in a flagrant disobedience 
of orders to follow the Richard into the action. The 
Alliance, fighting shy of the English warships, was 
sweeping toward the frightened convoy huddling off 
for shelter under the lee of Scarborough Castle. An- 
other vessel, th&Vcngeancc, French in toto, was fleeing 
with all speed from the action, and the third, the Pallas, 
another Frenchman, the only thing American about her 
being the flag flying above her, hung quivering in the 
wind in frightful indecision as to whether she should 
engage the weaker of the two English ships before 
them. 

At this moment the total crew on the Bonliomine 
Richard (so called from the nam dc pluuic of Benja- 
min Franklin) was about three hundred, of which only 
one fourth were Americans, about one half French sol- 
diers, and the balance the riff-raff of all nations, Por- 
tuguese preponderating; among their number being 
some Malays, perhaps Filipinos, thus early fighting 
for freedom. Two hundred desperate English prison- 
ers were confined below in the hold. Beside the cap- 
tain, not a single deck officer was left, through a 
series of mishaps, save Richard Dale, the first lieuten- 
ant, than whom no man ever was a better, by the 
way. Commodore Dale, who has been justly honored 
subsequently in the United States Navy, loved and 
venerated Jones above all other men, always speaking 
of him to the last day of his life with his eyes filled 
with tears of affection and regret as "Paul," which was 
his captain's birth name. Why John Paul assumed 
the name Jones has never been discovered ; cer- 



Paul Jones' Greatest Battle 45 

tainly for no disgraceful reason, for whatever name 
he might have taken he would have honored. 

The armament of the Richard consisted of twenty- 
eight twelve pounders on the gun deck ; on the quarter 
deck and forecastle were eight nine pounders. In des- 
peration, Jones had cut three ports on each side on the 
berth deck below the main battery and mounted six old 
condemned eighteen pounders therein. His ship had 
in all, therefore, forty-two guns, twenty-one in the 
broadside, discharging a total weight of two hundred 
and fifty-eight pounds of shot. The larger ship of the 
enemy was the brand new double-banked frigate Sera- 
pis, mounting three tiers of guns on two covered and 
one uncovered deck ; twenty eighteens, twenty nines, 
and ten six pounders, making a total of fifty guns, 
twenty-five in broadside, throwing three hundred 
pounds. As a further advantage the destructive power 
of an eighteen pound gun is immensely greater than 
that of a twelve. The crew of the Scrapis was about 
three hundred and fifty trained and disciplined men. 
Her captain, Pearson, was a brave and determined 
sailor of reputation in the service. 

There appeared to be no uncertainty in the mind of 
either commanding officer as to the character and force 
of his opponent. Pearson confidently expected an easy 
victory, which he certainly should have won, and 
Paul Jones determined to make him fight as no English 
ship had ever fought before, for all he got. About 
half after seven in the evening the two ships drew with- 
in gunshot distance of each other, the Richard rounding 
to off the port bow of the Scrapis. The thirty-two- 
gun ship Pallas at last gathered sufficient resolution 
to engage the Scarborough, a twenty-gun sloop, and 
thus eliminated her from Paul Jones' calculations. 



46 American Fights and Fighters 

The Vengeance had fled, and Captain Landais, in the 
Alliance, was hovering after the convoy out of range. 

For some reason, as the Richard approached, Cap- 
tain Pearson withheld his fire and hailed. The answer, 
which was indistinguishable, was followed by a shot 
from the Richard, and the two ships immediately 
exchanged terrific broadsides. Of the three eighteen 
pounders down on the berth deck near the water-line 
of the Richard, two burst at the first discharge, killing 
and wounding a large part of their crews, and blowing 
up a part of the deck. The other gun was of course 
abandoned. Side by side in the bright moonlight of 
the autumn night, the two ships slowly sailed together 
for nearly an hour. The roar of one discharge an- 
swered the other, cheer met cheer, as the iron hailed 
bullets wove a hideous net of death about the two ships. 

Fearful that he might be raked astern by the Serapis 
(which some accounts say was done), Jones, who had 
kept slightly in the lead, finally threw his ship aback, 
checking her onward motion so that the Serapis passed 
slowly ahead of him. As Pearson drew ahead, Jones 
attempted to throw his vessel across the rear of the 
English ship to rake and board, which of course would 
be his best plan, as in that case he could make good use 
of the soldiers on his decks. The attempt was a fail- 
ure on account of the sluggish motion of the unwieldy 
Richard, which only swung in aft of, and in line with, 
the Englishman. No guns now bearing on either ship, 
except for the continuous small-arm fire there was a 
slight lull in the action. As soon as the Serapis, which 
had drawn further ahead, swung up into the wind and 
partially raked the Richard, Jones filled away again 
and the battle was at once resumed with determined 
energy. Pearson now checked the speed of his own 
ship by throwing all aback, or else wore short around to 



Paul Jones' Greatest Battle 47 

cross the Richard's bows and rake, and the two vessels 
slowly drew together again. The fire from both ships 
had been kept up with unremitting fury from every gun 
as they bore, but the Scrapis' heavier metal had played 
havoc with the lighter American. The carnage and 
slaughter upon the Richard had been simply frightful. 
The rotten old ship was being beaten to pieces beneath 
the feet of her crew by the terrific battery of the Sera- 
pis. Gun after gun in the main battery had been dis- 
mounted. At this moment the Richard fortunately 
drew ahead of the Scrapis once more in the game of 
seesaw they had been playing, and Jones, with a last des- 
perate attempt to close, put his helm hard over, and this 
time the Richard paid off in front of and athwart the 
hawse of the Scrapis. 

The jib-boom of the English ship caught in the miz- 
zen rigging of the American. The wind upon the after 
sail forced the stern of the Scrapis round broadside to 
the Richard, and they lay locked together ; the bow of 
one by the stern of the other, the starboard batteries of 
both in contact. Pearson had, unknown to Jones, 
dropped his port bower anchor at the moment of contact 
in an endeavor to drag clear of the Richard, which he 
determined to knock to pieces at long range with his 
heavy guns; but as Benjamin Franklin said in a word 
or two which well describes the man, "Paul Jones ever 
loved close fighting,'' and he saw his opportunity and 
rose to it then and there ; as the two ships fouled each 
other, with his own hands he passed the lashing which 
bound them together. He found time at this critical 
moment to reprove one of his officers for profanity. 

"Don't swear, Mr. Stacy," he said reprovingly to his 
excited subordinate, "in another moment we may all be 
in eternity, but let us do our duty." 

Fine language from a "pirate," was it not? 



48 American Fights and Fighters 

As the Serapis swung- in board, the starboard anchor 
of the Richard canght in the mizzen chains of the for- 
mer and the two ships were bound together in an 
embrace which nothing but death and destruction could 
sever. The EngHshman's ports on the starboard side 
had been closed, and he worked his batteries by firing 
through them, thus blowing off the port lids. The ves- 
sels were so close together that the rammers and 
sponges of the great guns in one ship had to be extend- 
ed through the ports of the other ; they were so close in 
fact, that, as they ground and chafed together in the 
v^aves, the men on the lower decks were actually fight- 
ing a hand to hand conflict with great guns. But the 
heavier fire of the Serapis was too strong for the endur- 
ance of the half-breed crew of the Richard. The guns 
below were burst, silenced and dismounted, and from 
the mainmast aft the timbers were beaten in and out un- 
til both sides of the American ship were literally blown 
away and disappeared, so that at last the Serapis actual- 
ly fired her batteries through the open air without meet- 
ing any obstruction to their shot. There was really 
imminent danger that the upper decks aft on the RicJi- 
ard would collapse and sink down into the ruins below ; 
why they did not was a mystery. Dale and a French 
colonel of infantry had toiled like heroes in the battery 
to the last, but the carpenter now reported six feet of 
water in the hold and the ship making water fast, and 
the frightened master-at-arms at once released the pris- 
oners, crying that the ship was sinking, and the whole 
assemblage rushed headlong to the main-deck, the car- 
penter and other petty officers in the lead crying for 
quarter. 

Things had gone better above, however. The heavy 
mass of men, including the riflemen in the tops of the 



Paul Jones' Greatest Battle 49 

Richard and the marines under De Chamillard, had 
simply swept the crowded decks of the Scrapis with a 
searching rain of bullets from their small arms since 
the moment of contact and before. Nearly every man 
upon her, with the exception of the undaunted Pearson, 
had been driven below or disabled, the decks were cov- 
ered with dead and wounded, groaning and shrieking, 
unheeded. Some bold, undaunted spirits on the Rich- 
ard had run along the interlacing yard-arms, and after 
a dizzy hand to hand conflict in mid-air, upon their pre- 
carious footholds, had driven the English from the tops 
of the Scrapis, and gained possession, whence they 
poured a bitter musketry fire down the hatchways. 

When the ships had come together, the English made 
an attempt to board. Jones seized a pike and, followed 
by a few^ men, resolutely sprang to the point of attack, 
whence the British immediately retired. A like at- 
tempt of the Americans also failed. As the prisoners 
and crew came springing up from the useless guns and 
the decks below, several young American officers im- 
plored Jones to strike. He was not the striking kind. 
The doctor ran from the cock-pit below, crying that 
the water was gaining so that it floated the wound- 
ed there, and they must surrender. 

"What, doctor," cried Jones, smiling, "would you 
have me strike to a drop of water? Help me to get this 
gun over." 

The doctor concluded that the cock-pit was a safer 
place than the quarter-deck and went below again to 
his ghastly station. The master-at-arms, not seeing 
Jones, now ran aft to lower the flag ; finding it had been 
shot av/ay and was dragging in the water, he sprang on 
the rail repeating his cry for (juarter. Dale and a few 
determined men were busy below with the pumps des- 



50 American Fights and Fighters 

perately trying to keep the ship from sinking beneath 
their feet. Jones first braining with the butt of his 
pistol the carpenter who was shrieking that the ship 
was sinking and also crying for quarter, with infinite 
presence of mind and an address and resourcefulness 
which alone would write his name among the great 
commanders if there was nothing else, succeeded with 
the assistance of the gallant Dale in quieting his 
alarmed crew, and then compelling the confused prison- 
ers to go to the pumps on the plea that the English 
ship was sinking and their own would soon follow, if 
not kept afloat by their exertions. By this means he 
relieved a number of his own crew, and for the rest 
of the battle the singular spectacle was presented of 
a vessel being kept afloat by the people of the very na- 
tion against whom he fought, and whose heroic exer- 
tions in the heart-breaking work of continuous pumping 
— the hardest labor that falls to a sailor's life — con- 
tributed not a little to the final success of their captors. 
In a lull of the fire as they came together, Pearson, 
probably hearing the carpenter or others crying for 
quarter, shouted : 

"Have you struck?" 

To him Jones returned that immortal answer up- 
on which Americans love to dwell : 

' I have not yet begun to fight." 

Think of it ! On a beaten ship, sinking beneath his 
feet, kept afloat by the exertions of bewildered prisoners 
who outnumbered his own wavering and slaughtered 
crew, any other man would have struck his colors 
long since, but Jones had not yet begun to fight ! 
Things proved that he had not. The battle recom- 
menced at once, the English having their own- way 
with their big guns below decks, the Americans equally 



Paul Jones' Greatest Battle 51 

successful above. With his own hands, assisted by 
some others, the captain, who had ah-eady acted as sail 
trimmer, pikeman, and in nearly every other capacity 
as well, dragged another nine pound gun across the 
deck with great difficulty, and concentrated the fire of 
the three small guns loaded with double-headed and 
grape shot upon the mainmast of the Scrapis. Dur- 
ing the contact both ships had caught fire repeatedly 
from the burning gun-wads, or the flame of the close 
discharges, the Scrapis no less than twelve times and 
the Richard almost continuously. Dale now took 
charge below, and fought the fire as gallantly as he 
had fought the British. 

After the two ships had first grappled, about eight 
o'clock, the Alliance made her appearance on the scene. 
Landais sailed slowly across the stern of the two com- 
batants, delivering a raking fire upon both from his 
starboard guns which had been heavily charged with 
grape. More men were killed and w^ounded on the 
Richard by this discharg-e than on the Scrapis. Disre- 
garding the warning shouts and signals of the Richard, 
the Alliance then sailed away and repeated her per- 
formances upon the two other ships. A few moments 
before ten o'clock, the battle between the Scrapis and 
the Richard having continued with the utmost fury 
during the intervening period, she again crossed 
athwart the interlocked combatants. Once and again 
her broadside did more damage to her consort than to 
her enemy. That was her contribution to the fight. 

A little before the last onslaught of the Alliance, by 
Tones' orders, one of his seamen ran out on the main- 
yard with a bucket of hand grenades which he delib- 
erately proceeded to light and throw down the main 
hatch of the Scrapis. A number of powder charges 



52 American Fights and Fighters 

liad been carelessly allowed to accumulate upon the 
main-deck by the too confident English, and a fearful 
explosion took place which killed and wounded over 
forty of the crew. About the same time the battered 
mainmast of the Englishman upon which Jones had 
been persistently playing with his small guns, fell over 
the side, carrying with it the mizzen top-mast as well. 
That was the end. With his own hand Captain Pear- 
son tore down the colors which had been nailed to the 
mast by his orders, at half after ten o'clock, and sur- 
rendered his ship to his thrice beaten enemy. 

Dale, in spite of a severe wound which he had 
received, but of which he was not yet conscious so great 
was the excitement of the battle, at once leaped upon 
the rail and followed by a party of boarders swung 
himself aboard the Scrapis. As they landed upon the 
deck of the English ship, one of her crew, not knowing 
of the surrender, dangerously wounded Midshipman 
Mayrant, Dale's second, with a pike. From beneath 
their feet still came the roar of the Scrapis' guns, her 
crew ignoratit of the fact that she struck, had been 
cheered to renewed exertions by an English shipmaster 
among the prisoners on the Richard, who had escaped 
from the pumps and made his way to the lower decks of 
th^ Scrapis, revealing the desperate condition of their 
antagonist and encouraging them to persevere when 
success would be both speedy and certain. So the Eng- 
lish in spite of their captain fought on. However, as the 
fire of the Richard was at once stopped when Pearson 
tore down the colors, an English lieutenant came up 
on deck to see if she had struck. When he learned 
from his commander that his own ship had surrendered 
he was astounded. He turned to go below intending 
to notify the others, but Dale, fearing that he would 







^ 



=Q 



Paul Jones' Greatest Battle 53 

resume the combat, compelled him to follow his reluc- 
tant captain to the deck of the Richard. 

There stood the indomitable Paul Jones in the midst 
of the dead and dying, wounded himself, and covered 
with blood and the soil of the battle, the Richard sink- 
ing beneath him, flames from his burning ship mingling 
with the moonlight and throwing an vmcertain ghastly 
illumination upon the scene of ineffable horror present- 
ed. Still locked in the deadly embrace of the Richard 
lay the beaten Scrapis, her white decks covered with 
the mangled bodies of her crew, her lofty masts 
broken and wrecked, her rigging tangled in inextrica- 
ble confusion, flames breaking forth from her as well; 
the sullen English filing up from below and laying 
down their arms at the behest of their blood-covered, 
battle-stained conquerors, completed the picture. To 
such a pass had the once stately ships been brought by 
the passions which had raged, nay, which still burned, 
in the bosoms of the men who manned them. It was at 
this moment that Pearson, handing his sword to Jones, 
is reported to have made the ungracious remark about 
the halter referred to. To him, with a magnanimity as 
sweet to think on as was his valor, Jones replied : 

"Sir, you have fought like a hero; and I make no 
doubt your sovereign will reward you in the most am- 
ple manner." 

His words were prophetic, for Pearson, though he 
had lost his ship, was knighted for his gallant defense 
and received pieces of plate, etc., for his efficient protec- 
tion of his convoy. The Scarborough after a most 
gallant defense had struck to the Pallas, and Captain 
Piercy of the English ship was also substantially re- 
warded. When Jones heard of Pearson's advance 
ment, he characteristically made this remark : 



54 American Fights and Fighters 

"He deserves it, and if he get another ship, and I 
fall in with him, I'll make a duke of him." 

The English government put a price upon the head 
of Paul Jones, dead or alive, of ten thousand pounds — 
an immense sum and certainly equivalent to one hun- 
dred thousand dollars to-day. Considering his quality, 
they rated him cheaply after all. 

What of the fate of the Serapis and the Richard and 
her captain? It was impossible to save the American 
ship, though the most strenuous efforts were made to 
that end. On the twenty-fifth of September, therefore, 
Jones transferred his flag to the Serapis, upon which 
jury masts had been rigged, and at ten o'clock in the 
morning, the brave old Richard, still flying the great 
flag under which she had fought, sank bow foremost be- 
neath the sea. Accounts of the casualties on the two 
ships differ, and are uncertain ; it would be safe to esti- 
mate those on the Richard as within one hundred and 
fifty killed and wounded and those on the Serapis as 
Avithin two hundred. There never was a more bloody 
and frightful battle fought on any sea. Its happy re- 
sult for the Americans was unquestionably due to the 
exertions of Jones and Dale. There is no battle on 
record where the individual personality of one man so 
contributed to the result obtained as much as this. 

The little squadron now made its way to the Texel. 
Jones was compelled by the Dutch at the instigation 
of the English either to accept a French commission 
and set the French flag over the Serapis and the Scar- 
horough, or else give up his prizes. To his eternal 
honor he chose the latter alternative, and shifted his 
colors to the Alliance, deposing . Landais who was 
afterward dismissed the service. In spite of thir- 
teen Dutch ships of the line in the harbor urging 



Paul Jones' Greatest Battle 55 

him to get to sea at once, and the presence of a large 
fleet of EngHsh ships in the offing intent upon his cap- 
ture when he did come out, Jones calmly refitted the 
ship, and choosing his own time, in the midst of a howl- 
ing gale on the night of the twenty-seventh of Decem- 
ber, put to sea in full view of the blockaders, boldly 
made his way through the narrow English Channel 
crowded with ships on the lookout for him, passed two 
fleets of the enemy, and finally reached Corunna, in 
Spain, and shortly after Groix, in France. From the 
moment he entered the Texel he had not ceased to fly 
the American flag, even in the face of the overwhelming 
enemy from whom he was desperately trying to escape. 
A most unusual incident this, but one which well illus- 
trates the character of the man. 

Commodore Jones died in Paris in the year 1792. 
He was alone in his chamber at the time, and when 
his friends found him, he was lying face downward 
upon his bed. The hand of the conqueror whom no 
human power can resist had been laid upon him, and 
for the first time in his life the face of Paul Jones was 
turned away from the enemy. 

" Since writing the above I have learned that John Paul assumed the 
name of Jones out of regard for the family of the celebrated Willie Jones 
of North Carolina, who, with his charming wife, greatly befriended the 
young Scotsman in his days of adversity. The subject is treated at length 
in my life of John Paul Jones." 



THE SARATOGA CAMPAIGN 



I. The Defeat of the Detachments. 

I. TICONDEROGA, HUBBARDTON. 

Of all British officers who fought in the American Rev- 
olution the name of the one who is regarded with the 
most consideration by the Americans is that of John 
Burgoyne. The esteem in which he is still held takes 
its rise from two circumstances; he was the finest 
gentleman of the lot, and the most terribly unfortu- 
nate of them all. His personality, from all accounts, 
must have been charming, and his kindness of heart 
and loftiness of spirit is shown by many little anec- 
dotes. As, for instance, when he was charged by 
Gates with licensing rapine and outrage on the part 
of the Indians he was forced to employ by the or- 
ders of the home government, and whom he endeav- 
ored vainly to restrain, he replied indignantly, "I 
would not be conscious of the acts which you presume 
to impute to me for the whole continent of America, 
though the wealth of worlds was in its bowels, and a 
paradise upon its surface." He was a pleasure loving, 
cultivated, easy going gentleman, and in a small way a 

56 



The Saratoga Campaign 57 

man of letters beside. As a commander he was a con- 
spicuous failure. Carlyle speaks somewhere of certain 
English armies being led by wooden poles wearing 
cocked hats. Burgoyne was certainly a brilliant illus- 
tration of the epigram. 

The best of all the haphazard plans, and the only 
one showing any real military insight, which were 
devised by the English during the American Revo- 
lution, was that which resulted in Burgoyne's expedi- 
ton. There are some spots upon this earth's surface 
which are naturally marked out for battle grounds, 
like the plains of Beth-Horon or the pass of Ther- 
mopylae ; such a place was the valley of the Hudson. It 
had been the scene of numberless encounters, and had 
been fought over by Indians, French, Provincials and 
British again and again. The English government 
saw that the only way of separating the revolted colo- 
nies into manageable units would be by possessing 
themselves of the line of the Hudson. If that could be 
obtained and held they could deal with the colonies to 
the south and west at their leisure, or even with the 
New England colonies, as they wished. 

The idea was certainly a good one; the details of its 
execution as they were marked out by the ministry, as 
we shall see, were radically bad, and the expedition 
was doomed to disaster from the beginning. Of all 
military manoeuvers, that which necessitates the con- 
verging on a given point, at a given time, of a number 
of entirely independent units with no means of commu- 
nication between them, is the most difficult to carry out. 
The difficulty increases when every unit is compelled 
to fight its way to the junction point through deter- 
mined resistance. In such cases a single defeat or 
check may overthrow the whole plan. That was why 



58 American Fights and Fighters 

Washington failed at Germantown. The plan was for 
General Howe in New York to come up the Hudson 
with his force, while General Burgoyne came down. 
Albany was the place of meeting of the two main forces 
and of several auxiliary expeditions. To begin with, 
the English minister, Lord George Germaine, pigeon- 
holed the order for Howe to cooperate and forgot 
about it, while he was visiting at a country house, until 
it was too late. 

In the spring of 1777 the British made their supreme 
attempt to cut the confederated colonies in two. Bur- 
goyne, who had distinguished himself in a subordinate 
capacity in Portugal, w^as appointed to succeed Sir Guy 
Carleton, whose previous attempt in the same direction 
the year before had been checked by Arnold's heroic 
naval battle off Valcour Island on Lake Champlain. 
Carleton was, with the exception of Cornwallis, the best 
soldier the English sent over ; but Burgoyne was a man 
of great influence and he displaced the older and better 
soldier. The government allowed Burgoyne every- 
thing he wanted. They gave him an absolutely free 
hand in fitting out the expedition ; if he failed, it would 
be no one's fault but his own. 

The force that he took with him consisted of nearly 
ten thousand men; four thousand English regulars, 
three thousand Germans, five hundred artillerists, a 
large body of Canadians, and an indefinite number of 
Indians. The troops were selected with especial care 
and included one of the best regiments in the British 
army, Ackland's Grenadiers. The second in com- 
mand was Major-General Eraser, a distinguished and 
able soldier with a long and brilliant record ; Phillips, 
the chief of the artillery, was among the first in his pro- 
fession ; Lord Balcarras, a dashing soldier, commanded 



The Saratoga Campaign 59 

the light infantry ; Baron Riedesel, an experienced and 
capable veteran, led by the German contingent, with 
Colonels Baum and Breyman among his subordinate 
commanders. The wives of many of the officers ac- 
companied the expedition — perhaps they thought it was 
going to be a picnic on a large scale. On the first day 
of July Burgoyne and his army reached the famous 
fort at Ticonderoga. Meanwhile Howe, who, when 
left to his own discretion — which is a figure of speech, 
for he had none — was the most stupid and wooden 
of all the cocked-hatted poles in command, had gone off 
on a little expedition of his own to capture Philadel- 
phia, which was of no earthly use to him whatsoever. 
That he was urged thereto by General Charles Lee, as 
great a traitor as Arnold subsequently became, does not 
excuse his blundering. He succeeded in effecting the 
capture after great delays, and two desperate battles 
with Washington at the Brandywine and Germantown, 
in the latter of which he just barely escaped a disastrous 
defeat; alter which he went into winter quarters in 
Philadelphia and left Burgoyne to his own devices. 
Truly an able and energetic commander. 

General St. Clair was in command of the extensive 
works at Ticonderoga, with an insufficient garrison of 
about three thousand men. He had proposed to defend 
the place to the very last, but the American engineers, 
though previously warned, had neglected to fortify Mt. 
Defiance, a precipitous and rugged height, towering 
some six hundred feet above the water of the lake about 
a mile away from, and entirely commanding, the works. 
They had laughed at the possibility of mounting a bat- 
tery there and were greatly surprised on the morning of 
July fifth to find the place swarming with the red- 
coats who were busily mounting a heavy battery. 



6o American Fights and Fighters 

Phillips and his engineers, with incredible difficulty, had 
effected the apparent impossibility ; that General re- 
marking sapiently, "Where a goat can go, a man may 
go; and where a man can go, he can haul up a gun." 
The battery, which would be in position the next day, 
absolutely commanded the fort and rendered it untena- 
ble, so there was nothing to do but to abandon the posi- 
tion without loss of time, or to surrender the army. 

It was a terrible blow, not only on account of the 
munitions of war and the supplies which could not be 
destroyed, and which would naturally fall into the 
hands of the enemy, but the holding of the position, 
on account of the romantic manner in which it had been 
captured by Ethan Allen, was looked upon as a point 
of honor. However, there was nothing for it but to 
leave. When St. Clair was afterward reproached 
for abandoning the position, he replied pithily and 
wisely, "Yes, I lost a post, but saved a province." 
He was subsequently tried and acquitted for his action. 
On the following night of the fifth, therefore, the 
women and the children and invalids were embarked 
in two hundred boats and sent down the lake under 
strong guard toward Fort Edward ; and St. Clair, 
committing the charge of the rear-guard to Colonels 
Seth Warner (Ethan Allen's whilom associate), 
Francis and Hale, retreated toward Castleton in all 
haste, cjuietly spiking the guns and destroying the 
stores as much as possible before leaving, without 
giving the alarm. 

Unfortunately, however, and by the orders of General 
de Fermoy, it is said, a house was set on fire by the re- 
treating soldiers and its brilliant illumination gave 
away the whole affair. The British immediately oc- 
cupied the fort and Eraser with nine hundred men 



The Saratoga Campaign 6i 

started in hot pursuit. They came up with the rear- 
guard the next morning at Hubbardton where a desper- 
ate encounter took place. The Americans, numbering 
about one thousand men, fought with the greatest 
spirit, beating off the British several times, and, in fact, 
charging fiercely in return, drove back Fraser in confu- 
sion, until the British were reinforced by Riedesel and 
his Hessians, when the Americans were forced to 
withdraw, leaving on the field about three hundred 
killed or wounded, including many officers. The brave 
Colonel Francis was killed while leading a charge 
upon the enemy, Colonel Hale was captured and Col- 
onel Warner, with the remnant of his regiment, retreat- 
ed eastward through Vermont. Though somewhat de- 
layed by this sharp action, the British pursued the 
Americans'so closely that the fugitives burnt and aban- 
doned Fort Ann, and retreated with all speed south to 
Fort Edward, where St. Clair's men joined General 
Schuyler's little force on the twelfth of July. 

General Schuyler, who was in chief command of the 
surrounding American department at that time, worked 
in the most heroic and wise way to check the British 
advance, summoning the wilderness to his aid. The 
inhabitants withdrew from the country entirely, all of 
the provisions and stock they could not take with them 
they destroyed; bridges were broken down, the rivers 
and creeks choked up, and stalwart woodsmen felled 
the mighty trees in the forest paths and otherwise 
blocked the roads, so that the British progress was 
slow in the extreme. It took Burgoyne thirty days 
to advance his army nearly twenty-four miles through 
the wilderness, though up to that time he states that he 
had built some forty bridges — as a bridge builder he 
was an unrivaled success ! Every step of the road had 



62 American Fights and Fighters 

to be made anew, the Americans retiring in good order 
before the slow British advance. The army, of course, 
carried its provisions and suppHcs and the men were 
in heavy marching order which made progress through 
the thick woods extremely difficult. Burgoyne had 
hoped to have lived off the country, but found it impos- 
sible. The inhabitants did not rally to his standard to 
any great extent, as he had been led to believe they 
would, and his position was rapidly becoming a difficult 
one. Finally he reached Skenesborough, where he rest- 
ed ; he and his were tired, and it was time they did so. 



II. FORT STANWIX. ORISKANY. 

Meanwhile another expedition had been organized, 
which had started out at the same time as his own by 
way of Lake Ontario, to make an attack upon Fort 
Stanwix, situated at the headwaters of the Mohawk 
River where navigation ceased. It comprised about 
seventeen hundred British regulars. Provincials, Sir 
John Johnson's Tory contingent, and numbers of In- 
dians, and was under command of Lieutenant-Colonel 
St. Leger. After they had captured the fort, they were 
to swoop down the Mohawk Valley and, gathering 
stores therefrom, were to join Howe and Burgoyne 
at Albany. They landed at Oswego about the middle 
of July and made their way to the fort without opposi- 
tion, and immediately invested it on the third of 
August. It was defended by Colonel Peter Gansevoort 
with about six hundred men. The stout old colonel re- 
fused to surrender and, as the fort had been recently 
strengthened, St. Leger feared to assault and saw no 
way to effect its capture except by a regular siege. 



The Saratoga Campaign 63 

Schuyler had called out the militia of Tryon County, 
under the command of General Nicholas Herkimer, a 
veteran soldier in his sixtieth year, who resolved to re- 
lieve the fort. His little army of some eight hundred 
men pursued their way up the Mohawk Valley unmo- 
lested until, very early in the morning of the fifth of 
August, while it was yet dark, they came near to the 
Oriskany Creek, ahout eight miles from Fort Stanwix. 
At that point the advance was halted and three messen- 
gers were despatched to the fort with a request from 
Herkimer that Gansevoort would fire three guns imme- 
diately upon their arrival and make a sortie to engage 
the enemy, when Herkimer would advance and endeav- 
or to break through the besieging lines and gain the 
fort, and thus it was hoped the siege would be raised. 
The men found it difficult to reach the fort ; the long 
hours dragged away and no sound came to announce 
their arrival ; the impatient militia under Herkimer 
chafed bitterly at the delay, finally going so far as to re- 
proach the general for not permitting them to go on. 
He was suspected, most unjustly, of Tory leanings, and 
his principal officers. Colonels Cox and Paris, did not 
refrain, in the stress of their excitement, from apprising 
him of their suspicions and charging him with cowar- 
dice. The wise old man resisted their importunities 
and disregarded their taunts until they became unbear- 
able, when he reluctantly ordered an advance. 

The road, or way, led across a causeway of logs car- 
ried over a marsh in a narrow defile thickly wooded, 
in which an ambush had been carefully prepared. St. 
Leger, to intercept them, had despatched a large body 
of "Johnson's Greens" under Major Watts, many of 
them neighbors and acquaintances of Herkimer's 
men. Between these antagonistic bodies, on account of 



64 American Fights and Fighters 

their differing political views, a. most acrid and bitter 
feeling had developed, so that they literally longed to 
get at each other. This Tory regiment was accompan- 
ied by a large body of Mohawks under the famous 
Brant, and under his direction the ambush was ar- 
ranged. The Americans marched carelessly into the 
defile about nine o'clock in the morning and would 
have undoubtedly been massacred to a man, had it not 
been that the impetuosity of the Indians, who fired pre- 
cipitately, apprised them of their danger. They were 
met after a shot or two by a smashing volley. Herki- 
mer's rear-guard immediately retreated incontinently, 
but the rest stood their ground stoutly and returned the 
fire; old hands at this sort of a game, the men at once 
sought cover behind trees and commenced in that nar- 
row valley a woodmen's battle, which for sanguinary 
ferocity and determined persistence was hardly paral- 
leled on the continent. 

To their political differences they added personal 
antagonisms of the bitterest kind, and as the conflict 
grew fiercer, the opposing bodies of sometime friends 
and neighbors, and the ferocious Iroquois, drew near- 
er to each other, until they fought during the long hot 
morning through the woods and marshes hand to hand. 
A furious thunder-storm accompanied by vivid light- 
ning now broke over the horrid scene, and the rain 
which began to fall in torrents rendered the firearms 
useless, but conflict was actually carried on with knives. 
Colonels Cox and Paris were both killed. The Ameri- 
cans presently gained a more advantageous position on 
higher ground, and the Indians began to give way. 
Watts with the Tories now made a desperate charge 
with the bayonet. The struggle became a confused 
bloody conflict between men mad and raving with 



The Saratoga Campaign 65 

the Inst of battle, from which, after more than five hun- 
dred had been killed or wounded, the Indians finally fled 
and the Tories and the Americans alike sullenly and 
bitterly withdrew from the field in complete exhaustion. 

Herkimer was early disabled by a bullet which shat- 
tered his knee and killed his horse. The noble old man 
refused to withdraw from the conflict and directed his 
aides to place him on his saddle with his back against 
a great tree. There, while smoking his pipe, he calmly 
directed the conflict. The passions of men had turned 
the pretty little valley into a hellish slaughter-pen, and 
about half of those engaged on both sides had been 
killed or wounded — a terrible proportion, indeed ! So 
bitter had been the strife that even the agonies of 
death itself had not separated the fighters; men were 
found locked in each other's arms, a knife in each heart, 
in a grasp, the tenacity of which bespoke their infernal 
passion. Herkimer's advance was, of course, checked ; 
he did not succeed in reaching the fort, but the dread- 
ful slaughter he had inflicted greatly discouraged St. 
Leger's men and correspondingly encouraged the gar- 
rison. 

In the heat of the conflict Herkimer's messengers 
reached Gansevoort, who had been wondering what 
the distant firing meant, and he immediately sent out 
Colonel Marinus Willett with two hundred and fifty 
picked men, who fell upon St. Leger's camp and stam- 
peded a portion of his force with great slaughter; they 
captured five standards, and twenty wagon loads of 
plunder, and returned to the fort in safety without los- 
ing a man ! The five captured flags were immediately 
hoisted below an improvised American banner, the only 
one they possessed in the fort, which had been made out 
of a white sheet, a blanket and a woman's petticoat — 



66 American Fights and Fighters 

this was the first time that an EngHsh flag had been 
hoisted beneath the Stars and Stripes ! Fiske says, in 
fact, this was the first American flag with its stars and 
stripes that was ever hoisted. St. Leger, however, still 
pressed the siege vigorously and Colonel Willett final- 
ly volunteered to carry the news of their condition to 
Schuyler. He succeeded in escaping through the lines, 
after some thrilling adventures, and Schuyler imme- 
diately despatched Arnold, the only one of his briga- 
diers who would volunteer, with twelve hundred men 
to the rescue. 

Arnold had but a small force, but he was himself a 
host. In strategy he proved himself as wise as he was 
in battle brave ; so he caused reports to be spread greatly 
exaggerating the number of his forces and their near- 
ness to St. Leger. He actually succeeded in creating 
a panic among the troops of that disgusted soldier, 
which caused the Indians to withdraw after first filling 
themselves with whisky and raiding his camp, so that 
finally the English were forced to raise the siege 
and fly precipitately from their camp, leaving tents, 
artillery, provisions, and everything for the Americans. 
This was August the twenty-second. During his 
rapid retreat St. Leger's army disintegrated and noth- 
ing more was to be feared from them. They never 
appeared on the scene again. Fort Stanwix was saved, 
and the Mohawk Valley, from which the British had 
expected to gain large supplies, remained in possession 
of the Americans. The heroic Herkimer died at his 
own home a few days after the battle, mainly from 
the effects of unskilful surgery ; his end was that of a 
philosopher and a Christian. Fully conscious of it, 
he smoked his pipe and read his Bible to his assembled 
family at the thirty-eighth Psalm until he expired. 



The Saratoga Campaign 67 

May his name be held ever in grateful remembrance. 
This defeat was blow number two to the hapless Bur- 
goyne. 

III. BENNINGTON. 

Blow number one was delivered on the sixteenth of 
August. Burgoyne, in great straits for provisions, for- 
age and horses, had learned that there was a large 
depot of supplies at Bennington, in Vermont. On the 
thirteenth of August he despatched a force of five hun- 
dred men, most of whom were dismounted Hessian 
dragoons, under the command of Colonel Baum,to seize 
the supplies; one hundred Indians followed Baum's 
force. Major Skene, a royalist of the neighborhood, 
also accompanied the expedition. A skeleton organi- 
zation for a regiment of royalists, which it was hoped 
might be raised among the people, was also sent along 
— that regiment never amounted to more than that 
skeleton, and even that was soon lost! 

On the news of Burgoyne's descent, the New Hamp- 
shire militia had rallied under the command of 
that famous veteran of the old French and Indian 
war, John Stark. It was he who had held the rail 
fence stuffed with straw at Bunker Hill. He had fought 
in all the battles around Boston and New York. It 
was he who led the advance of Sullivan's column on the 
famous Christmas night at Trenton. He had been un- 
justly treated by Congress in the matter of rank and 
had retired from the service, with the pithy remark 
that, "an officer who could not protect his own rights 
could not be entrusted safely with those of his coun- 
try!" He had accepted the command of the militia 
with great reluctance and expressly stipulated that he 



68 American Fights and Fighters 

should be amenable only to the authorities of New 
Hampshire. 

By his orders the men assembled at Bennington, 
where there was a large supply depot. They were a 
rude and motley array ; there was not a uniform among 
them; many came in their hunting frocks, or in home- 
spun shirts, but every man carried a bright, well-kept 
rifle, which he knew how to use, and, in their way, they 
made up a very effective force. No loyalists joined 
Baum, and appearances were so threatening that he 
stopped near Bennington on the fifteenth of August and 
entrenched on a little hillock near a creek during a 
long rainy day, and sent back a message for reinforce- 
ments. Before the battle the next day, August six- 
teenth, in the early afternoon, Stark in his plain and 
homely way made a brief speech to his men, conclud- 
ing with these significant words, "Now, my men, 
there are the red-coats ! Before night they must 
be ours, or Molly Stark will be a widow !" The 
morning had been consumed in preparing for the 
battle. Stark had sent parties of men through the 
woods in every direction, past the unconscious Ger- 
mans, who, never having seen an army out of uniform, 
paid but little attention to them, until he had assem- 
bled a force of two hundred men on one side, three 
hundred on another and two hundred on a third side 
of Baum's little redoubt. It has been said that 
Baum had surmised that these detached parties were 
the expected rank and file of that skeleton regiment. 
He was soon bitterly undeceived. 

The Americans were three times as great in numbers 
as their antagonists, but every advantage was with the 
Germans. They w^ere well-trained, disciplined sol- 
diery, in a commanding position of their own choosing, 



The Saratoga Campaign 69 

strongly entrenched and provided with cannon. But in 
spite of this "the men who fought at Minden," under 
the famous Ferdinand of Brunswick, were no match 
for the Americans under Stark ! The Indians who had 
accompanied Baum were wiser than he. They knew 
what deadly foes these men in their hunting frocks 
could be, and they fled incontinently. Finally about 
two o'clock in the afternoon, all his dispositions having 
been made satisfactorily, Stark moved across the shal- 
low stream and gave the signal to begin the battle. 
The enemy was entirely surrounded. The Germans 
had two field pieces which, at first well-served, did great 
execution, but the experienced American riflemen from 
their various points of vantage picked off the men at 
the guns, sometimes creeping to within eight or ten 
paces of the redoubt in order to do it effectually, until 
the space about the artillery became a regular death- 
trap. Stark was everywhere around the fort inspiring 
his men. Finally, after several hours of conflict, the 
ammunition of the Hessians began to diminish, and the 
Americans actually stormed the position ! Stark led 
one of the columns in person and fought with his 
sword, hand to hand, with the rest. The Hessians met 
the charge with the bayonet and with the swords of the 
dragoons, but nothing could stem the splendid advance 
of the Americans. Baum was killed, many of his men 
fell with him, and the rest threw down their arms and 
were captured. A militia army without bayonets had 
captured a fortified position defended by artillery and 
garrisoned by veteran soldiers ! 

At this juncture Colonel Breyman, with six hundred 
German and English troops whom Burgoyne had des- 
patched to succor Baum's men, made his appearance 
on the scene, and immediately charged the disorganized 



70 American Fights and Fighters 

Americans, who began to give ground before the on- 
slaught of these fresh soldiers. At this critical mo- 
ment, Warner's men, whom we have seen gallantly 
fighting at Hubbardton, led by the colonel in person, 
came running on the scene, not yet having been en- 
gaged. By Stark's order they immediately charged 
Breyman's troops. The other Americans rallied and 
returned to the conflict and in a short time Breyman 
was forced to retreat, which he did expeditiously and 
disastrously. He lost heavily in killed, wounded and 
captured. Attended by only sixty or seventy soldiers, 
he finally succeeded in reaching the force which Bur- 
goyne in person had led out to succor him. In this 
action over two hundred were killed or wounded ; some 
seven hundred prisoners and one thousand stand of 
arms, nearly as many dragoon swords, and four guns, 
together with many other equipments, fell into the pos- 
session of the victorious Americans, who lost only 
about sixty killed and wounded ! This was blow num- 
ber one, and the two strokes almost completed the 
undoing of Burgoyne's hapless expedition. 



THE SARATOGA CAMPAIGN 



11. The End of the Main Army 

I. freeman's farm 

The position of Biirgoyne was now become desperate. 
The American militia came pouring in upon him from 
all sides. The murder, by the Indians, of a beautiful 
young girl, Jane MacCrea, betrothed to a lieutenant in 
the British camp, had aroused the most intense feeling 
among the American farmers ; and animated by a burn- 
ing desire to revenge and punish this and other atroci- 
ties, they flocked to the American standards in great 
and ever increasing numbers. Burgoyne was horrified 
at the outrages perpetrated by his savage allies and did 
what he could to prevent them, finally dismissing the 
Indians altogether; but it was then too late, the mis- 
chief had been done. 

Congress on the first of August had removed the 
brave and able Philip Schuyler and replaced him with 
the weak and inefficient Horatio Gates ! It was a most 
unjust change, and the subsequent victories of the 
Americans were due not to Gates, but to Schuyler's 
wise measures and unflagging energy — it was too bad 

71 



72 American Fights and Fighters 

that he should have been robbed of the glory after 
having sustained the hardships, met the difficulties, and 
laid the plans, which brought success, for Burgoyne 
was practically beaten before Gates appeared. If Bur- 
goyne was a hoop-pole in a cocked hat. Gates was 
scarcely more than a toothpick similarly clad ! Schuy- 
ler behaved like the hero, the patriot, the gentleman, 
that he was ; remaining with Gates and assisting and 
advising with him to the end of the campaign, though 
treated with scorn and contumely by the latter. 

The defeats of Baum and St. Leger had terribly 
crippled the British. Nothing whatever had been heard 
from the expected movement of Sir William Howe 
up the river. As we have seen, that gentleman had 
gone on a wild-goose chase toward Philadelphia. La- 
ter on Sir Henry Clinton had moved up from New 
York, outgeneraling old Putnam in a rather clever 
campaign, and captured Forts Washington and Lee on 
the Hudson. After this brilliant exploit, his action 
not having effected the final issue in the slightest de- 
gree, he had retired to New York again. Prudence 
would have dictated that Burgoyne should retreat at 
once to Canada if it were yet possible, but he was a 
chivalrous gentleman and could not bear the idea of 
withdrawal, for the reason that it would permit the 
large American army in front of him to attack Howe, 
then, as he supposed, coming up the river, and crush 
him! Besides, his main army had not yet done 
any serious fighting, and in common with all the 
British officers he despised the Americans and prob- 
ably counted on an easy victory when he attacked, 
which might materially alter the situation. His ex- 
perience at Bunker Hill ought to have taught him 
differently. He therefore determined, against the ad- 



The Saratoga Campaign 73 

vice of some of his best officers, upon giving battle. 
On the thirteenth of September he crossed the Hud- 
son on a bridge of rafts to the west side of the river, 
where he strongly fortified a camp. On the nineteenth 
of the same month he moved his army out to make the 
long expected attack, from which so much was hoped. 

The American position had been established on Be- 
mis Heights. It was well-fortified, and the lines had 
been laid out by the distinguished Polish volunteer, 
Thaddeus Kosciusko. Gates' force amounted to about 
fifteen thousand men, mostly militia and volunteers. 
His second in command was the famous Benedict Ar- 
nold. Washington had sent him from the southern 
army and with him the famous corps of riflemen under 
Daniel Morgan, as well as some other veterans of the 
Continental line, whom he could ill spare, by the way, 
as he was having his hands full at the Brandywine and 
Germantown. Putnam also despatched some veterans 
to Gates. 

Burgoyne's plan of attack seems to have been to turn 
the left flank of the American position at the same 
time that he made a direct attack on the center and 
right : General Fraser had command of the right wing, 
Riedesel and Phillips of the left, and he, himself, led 
the center. The movement commenced in the early 
morning. The x-^merican scouts and pickets, posted in 
the thick woods, caught the gleam of the rising sun re- 
flected from hundreds of bayonets of the silently 
advancing army; here and there through vistas in the 
forest might be seen little groups of red-coated men. 
By noon Burgoyne's plan had been entirely discovered. 
Arnold, who commanded the left wing, was not in- 
clined like Gates to play a waiting game, and when he 
found that the latter was disposed to remain inside his 



74 American Fights and Fighters 

strong entrenchments to await the attack, he protested 
with all the force of his impetuous nature. His repre- 
sentations were so far successful that finally Gates gave 
him leave to take Morgan's and Dearborn's brigades 
of Continentals, and move out to the attack. 

It was about three o'clock when he fell upon the ad- 
vance of the British center under Burgoyne himself at 
Freeman's Farm. The conflict at once became sanguin- 
ary and desperate. Arnold had slightly the greater 
force at the point of contact, and the British center was 
driven back, fighting stoutly and contesting every foot 
of the way. General Fraser on the right made all haste 
to join the center, but Arnold, flushed with success, 
daringly thrust his men forward and interposed be- 
tween Fraser's left and the British center, and Fra- 
ser had a desperate time to maintain his division 
intact. The battle was now general ; Arnold was at- 
tacking and driving the British center straight back; 
charge and countercharge were delivered, guns were 
taken and retaken, and the battle became a fierce hand 
to hand struggle in the woods. Arnold was every- 
where, in the thick of the fray, fighting like the com- 
monest soldier, and animating his men to more desper- 
ate exertions. Burgoyne, Fraser and the English 
did not spare themselves in the fight either, and 
soldiers and officers fought side by side. Part of 
Arnold's men were moving on the right flank of the 
British center, and another part on the left flank of 
Fraser's right division, and the enemy's lines were fair- 
ly broken. The situation of the British army was pre- 
carious in the extreme. The bold tactics of Arnold had 
completely disorganized and nullified Burgoyne's plan 
of attack. 

Meanwhile, during the long afternoon up on Bemis 



The Saratoga Campaign 75 

Heights, Gates held eleven thousand impatient men in 
reserve who did nothing at all. Arnold repeated- 
ly sent to him for reinforcements and declared that 
with two thousand more men he could have utterly 
routed the whole British army, which was probably 
true. Gates paid no attention whatever to Arnold's 
requests, and as the shades of night drew on, Phillips 
and Riedesel, in command of the left wing of the Brit- 
ish, who had intended to make the direct attack on the 
entrenchments, gave over their purpose, and summoned 
to his aid by urgent messengers from Burgoyne, hastily 
turned away to the river, and by hard marching struck 
the right flank of Arnold's division. The preponder- 
ance of force was now the other way. The American 
advance was checked, the British line re-formed, and the 
advantage previously gained was lost. The battle still 
raged, however, until nightfall, when Arnold sullenly 
withdrew his men in good order, leaving the British 
in possession of the field whereon they had fought. 
They, therefore, claimed a victory; but inasmuch as 
their attack on the American line had been foiled and 
their advance checked, the victory — if it may be so 
called — was a barren one, and the honors rested en- 
tirely with Arnold. He had in action about three 
thousand men as opposed, at the close of the fight, to 
four thousand five hundred of the British. About one- 
fourth of the combatants were killed or wounded — a 
tremendously large proportion — the British suffering 
the greater loss. The combat was known as the Battle 
of Freeman's Farm. 

There was a wild scene of recrimination and re- 
proach at headquarters that night between Gates and 
Arnold, and the former finally relieved the latter of his 
command and sent him his passports to Philadelphia. 



76 American Fights and Fighters 

Arnold refused to go. In the despatches which Gates 
sent to Congress announcing the victory, he basely 
made no mention of Arnold's name. The two armies 
remained in camp until the seventh of October, keeping 
up a constant skirmishing and picket firing, although 
the net was drawn more and more closely about Bur- 
goyne with every succeeding day. During this period 
he received word that Lincoln's men had recaptured 
the outworks of Ticonderoga, and the fort was be- 
sieged. His boats on Lake George were taken and 
destroyed, his lines of communication cut, his base of 
supplies menaced. Henceforward no supplies of any 
kind were received, and provisions became very scarce; 
the whole army was put on short allowance and the 
hardships were very great. 



II. STILLWATER 

On the seventh of October, in utter desperation, Bur- 
goyne resolved upon a final attempt to break through 
the ever-tightening circles drawn al^out him by the ene- 
my. He selected from his depleted force a picked col- 
umn of about fifteen hundred men, the very best in 
the army. He led it in person, and Fraser, Riedesel, 
Phillips, Balcarras and Ackland accompanied him. A 
strong battery of artillery went with them. General 
Fraser, with five hundred chosen men, led the advance. 
The rest of the army remained under arms in camp, 
ready for any success or emergency. As he advanced 
toward the American line, his movement was discov- 
ered, and Morgan, with three thousand riflemen, at- 
tacked him furiously on the right, while the New 
England militia moved out upon his front. 



The Saratoga Campaign 77 

The heroism of that Httle party of Enghsh soldiers 
was nothing less than marvelous ; such stubborn fight- 
ing as they made had not been witnessed on the conti- 
nent and was not seen again for a long time ; they and 
their leaders fully sustained the national reputation for 
valor. Fraser. on a big gray horse, was everywhere 
in the conflict, animating his men, and contesting every 
point with the most determined courage and skill. The 
British were slowly forced back by the overwhelm- 
ing Americans. Ackland's Grenadiers, one of the finest 
regiments in the British army, began to give ground 
under the furious attacks of the riflemen. Ackland 
himself was desperately wounded and taken prisoner. 
Fraser succeeded, however, in re-forming his shattered 
lines on the hills of Freeman's Farm, the scene of the 
previous battle; he was ably seconded by the other 
commanders who exposed themselves with the highest 
degree of personal gallantry. 

The story goes that Morgan, seeing the value of 
Fraser's services, called two of his most expert riflemen 
and pointed to the unfortunate soldier, with the words, 
"That is General Fraser. He is a brave man, I honor 
him, but for the success of our cause it is necessary 
he should die." The bullets began to fall thickly about 
the brave Englishman, and some of his staff officers 
begged him to retire. "My duty forbids me to retire 
from danger, my place is here," he replied, and immedi- 
ately after a rifle bullet struck him in the breast mor- 
tally wounding him. No loss, not even that of Bur- 
goyne himself, could have been more serious. He was 
carried back to camp in a wheelbarrow, suffering 
dreadfully. 

Arnold, who had been chafing bitterly at his en- 
forced idleness on the Heights, watching the battle in 



yS American Fights and Fighters 

which he had no right to interfere, as he was without 
command, and even had no status at all in the army, at 
this moment perceived that if the attack were pressed 
home, the most brilliant results might be expected. 
Without asking any one's permission, mounting his 
horse he galloped away to the scene of the conflict. 
Gates, fearful that his impetuosity might lead him to 
undue lengths, sent a staff officer to call him back. 
The staff officer was not born who could catch Arnold 
that day. As he swept down along the American lines 
the men recognized him as their fighting leader, and 
with wild cheers followed him in a succession of des- 
perate charges upon the shattered British column, which 
began a precipitate retreat to the camp, hard-pressed by 
the Americans. 

As Arnold was the senior in rank on the field, his or- 
ders were obeyed everywhere without question. He 
despatched Morgan to attack the extreme right flank 
of the British camp, and with those immediately about 
him, fell like a storm upon the lines where were sta- 
tioned the light infantry under Balcarras. The men of 
that famous regiment stood up like a rock. Seeing the 
attempt to break through was hopeless there, Arnold 
moved on to his left, falling upon the Canadian con- 
tingent, routed them, crashed into Breyman's Hessians, 
who were assailed at the same moment by Morgan's 
riflemen on the other flank, and who gave way at once. 
Arnold raged up and down the line in a fury of battle, 
a perfect incarnation of war. Well had it been for him 
if he had died at that moment on that bloody field ! 
The slaughter among the British was dreadful. Brey- 
man himself was killed, and the right flank of the 
enemy's camp was in possession of the Americans. 
At this moment a ball from a rifle fired by a wounded 



The Saratoga Campaign 79 

German, lying on the ground, strnck Arnold in the 
leg, breaking both bones and killing his horse — one 
likes to think that Arnold saved the life of the man who 
shot him. Reinforcements from the other flank and 
the center of the British camp were now bronght up, 
and the Americans finally retired, taking with them 
their disabled leader, who at this moment was over- 
taken by the staff officer carrying Gates' orders to re- 
turn ! 

The gathering twilight stopped the progress of the 
conflict, called the Battle of Stillwater. Had Gates 
been a little more enterprising, he could have absolute- 
ly beaten the British to pieces on this day. It was the 
second opportunity he had lost. Nothing was now left 
for Burgoyne but to retreat. He gathered up his army 
skilfully enough, leaving his sick and wounded in 
camp, and precipitately moved back to Saratoga. The 
American army followed closely upon his heels. When 
Burgoyne reached Saratoga he found a force of three 
thousand men drawn up on the opposite side of the 
river, which would prevent his crossing. 

Fraser had died the morning after the battle. The 
journal of the Baroness Riedesel who, with her three 
little children endured the hardships of the campaign, 
tells of the fortitude with which the gallant soldier bore 
his sufferings. He was buried, by his own request, on 
a high hill in the center of the camp, at six o'clock on 
the evening of the day in which he died, Burgoyne 
delaying his retreat to carry out the last wishes of his 
friend. He was carried to his grave by the grenadiers 
of Ackland's regiment in his division. Burgoyne and 
his principal officers stood about the grave while the 
chaplain of the grenadiers, the Rev. Mr. Brudenell, 
calmly read the burial service. The cannon of the 



8o American Fights and Fighters 

American batteries, not realizing the nature of the 
movement, played upon the Httle group. Bullets struck 
so near as to actually scatter the earth over the chap- 
lain, who continued to read the Church service in his 
usual calm and even way. Before the service was fin- 
ished the Americans discovered what the British were 
about and, in honor of the dead, minutes guns were 
fired until the burial was over, when the business of 
war was resumed again. 

Lady Harriet Ackland, the wife of the commander of 
the grenadiers, who had devotedly followed the army 
from Quebec and nursed her husband through an at- 
tack of illness, and a wound received at Ticonderoga, 
now applied to General Burgoyne for a pass to the 
American lines to go to her husband who had been 
captured, after being desperately wounded in the battle 
of the day before. Accompanied by the plucky chap- 
lain, Mr. Brudenell, in the dark, rainy night, they 
rowed down the river to the American camp. Gates 
received her with every courtesy and permitted her to 
have access to her gallant husband. 



III. SARATOGA AND THE SURRENDER 

The situation in the British camp was absolutely hope- 
less ; their provisions were gone and there was no water. 
The American riflemen killed every man who attempted 
to go to the river to get water, and it was not until a 
woman, the wife of a British soldier, volunteered and 
made the attempt, that they got even a scanty supply — 
the American army would not fire upon a woman ! 
The American batteries raked the camp with their shot, 
and the long rifles of Morgan's men searched out 



The Saratoga Campaign 8i 

every point — there was no safety any place. The situa- 
tion was now plainly unbearable. On the eighth of 
October Burgoyne sent a flag of truce to Gates, asking 
what terms would be accorded him. Burgoyne indig- 
nantly refused the first demand that he surrender 
unconditionally, and after further argument, on the 
seventeenth of October the articles were signed which 
were called "The Convention of Saratoga." 

In them Gates, on behalf of the United States, bound 
himself to the effect, that after the British army had 
marched out with the honors of war, they should pile 
their arms at an appointed place and then be marched 
to Boston, whence they would be sent back to England. 
The arrangements which were made by Gates, to give 
him his due, were marked with the most distinguished 
consideration. When Burgoyne, a tall, imposing man, 
brilliantly attired in the gorgeous scarlet and gold 
uniform of the British army, approached the small, 
unprepossessing American soldier, in his plain blue 
frock-coat, he handed him his sword and said : "The 
fortune of war. General Gates, has made me your pris- 
oner." Gates immediately returned the sword with a 
profound bow and the gracious remark, "I will be 
ready to testify that it was through no fault of your 
Excellency." Gates had been a major in the British 
army in earlier days, where he had served with some 
credit. Notwithstanding the fact that he received the 
surrender and did it well enough, as a commander he 
was thoroughly incompetent. The credit of the vic- 
tory belongs first to the enterprising and devoted pa- 
triotism of Schuyler, and secondly to the bold work of 
Arnold. 

One or two statements regarding matters under con- 
sideration may be of interest. In the first place, the 



82 American Fights and Fighters 

American Congress deliberately and wilfully, and with- 
out cause, broke faith with the English, and the articles 
of the convention were never carried out. The cap- 
tured army was taken from Boston to Virginia, where 
they were held as prisoners of war. Some of the offi- 
cers were exchanged from time to time, but the army 
disintegrated and, as a body, never got back to England. 
The Baroness Riedesel and her three children, and the 
other women also, were treated with the most delight- 
ful hospitality and courtesy by the Americans, whom 
they ever after held in grateful remembrance. 

Major Ackland, under the careful nursing of his de- 
voted wife, recovered, was exchanged and went back 
to England. Some time later, while at a dinner party, 
he undertook to resent some remarks which were 
made in disparagement of the courage of the Ameri- 
cans. A duel followed in which Ackland was killed. 
Lady Harriet lost her reason when she heard the news 
and continued insane for the space of two years. 
Would that the romantic chronicle might end here. 
Alas! When she recovered she married again, this 
time the Rev. Mr. Brudenell, the intrepid chaplain ! 
Thus does romance veil its head before stern fact. 
Some have ventured to suggest, however, that Lady 
Harriet had not fully recovered her reason when 
she spoiled her charming story by that other marriage. 

Talking with General Lew Wallace one day, he re- 
lated the following anecdote. While minister of the 
United States to Turkey, he was seated with some 
English friends looking over the Golden Horn. A 
little boat flying the English flag crossed their field of 
vision. 

"There," said his friend, reflectively, "is a flag 
which has never been surrendered by a general at the 
head of an army on a field of battle to a foreign foe," 



The Saratoga Campaign 83 

"You are mistaken," said Wallace, quietly, "I recall 
two instances." 

"What are they?" 

"Saratoga and Yorktown !" 

"Oh," said the Englishman, quickly, "you are our 
people. They do not count." 

But they did count, nevertheless, very highly; for 
Sir Edv^^ard Creasy, the distinguished historian, 
includes Saratoga, with Marathon, Arbela, Tours, 
Blenheim, Waterloo, and the others, among the fifteen 
decisive battles of the world ! Frederick the Great, 
trailed, experienced soldier and statesman that he was, 
had seen the importance and value of Trenton and 
Princeton. The most ignorant and the skeptical could 
read the lesson of Saratoga. It wrote in large letters 
the prophecy of the ultimate success of the American 
cause, brought about the open alliance with France, 
and paved the way for Yorktown. 



GREENE'S CAMPAIGN IN THE 
CAROLINAS 



I. The Beginning, The Cowpens and Guil- 
ford Court House 

A CAMPAIGN which for brilHancy in conception and 
success in working out, may fairly challenge compari- 
son with Washington's Trenton and Princeton cam- 
paign, was that of General Nathaniel Greene in the 
Carolinas. In some respects I would even award it 
the palm over Washington's more famous New Jersey 
man(£uvers. While the general conditions were not so 
desperate and the issues were not so great, in that fail- 
ure would not have terminated the Revolution, yet lo- 
cally nothing could have been more difficult, nay, impos- 
sible, than the problem which Greene was set to solve ; 
and in the solving of which he demonstrated his right 
to be considered after Washington — and not far after 
him either — the ablest tactician, the most brilliant strat- 
egist, and the greatest fighter of the Revolution. In- 
deed, we have come down to the Civil War to find his 
equal, and even then the search must be made with 
some care. General Scott, for instance, who gained a 

84 



Greene's Carolina Campaign 85 

much greater reputation in the War of 181 2 and in the 
Mexican War, is not to be mentioned in the same breath 
with this Rhode Island blacksmith, either for ability 
or achievement; he does not compare with this plain 
man who so highly educated himself by his own unaid- 
ed efforts, that, for relaxation in the midst of desperate 
campaigns, he read the Latin poets in the original by the 
light of the camp fire, and annotated, for the use of the 
army, Vattel's famous treatise called "Droit des Gens!" 

He began his service at the breaking out of the war 
and was never out of the harness until the end. He and 
Washington were the only general officers present at 
the siege of Boston who remained in the amiy until the 
British withdrew from the United States in 1783. 
He fought in every battle in which Washington com- 
manded, except one, until he went South, with ever 
increasing success and skill ; and although he had no 
previous military experience whatsoever, he developed 
himself, by observation, study and reflection, not only 
into the strategist which he naturally was, but into a 
brilliant tactician as well — strategists are born, tacti- 
cians largely made. His tactics on the field of battle 
were as great as was his strategy in his campaigns. 
He was a man of impetuous, dashing nature, yet he 
schooled himself and so checked his natural impulses 
that he became the incarnation of caution. It is difficult 
to find anything to blame in his military work from the 
beginning, and impossible in those years in which he 
exercised independent command. His plans and his 
methods were moulded largely after those of Wash- 
ington himself. No man could be more wary, more 
prompt, or more bold than he, when the exigency de- 
manded the one course or the other. 

When the British under Sir Henry Clinton invaded 



86 American Fights and Fighters 

South Carolina in 1780 and finally succeeded in cap- 
turing Charleston on the twelfth of May, thus elimi- 
nating the army — containing over two thousand 
Continentals, by the way, which Lincoln had foolishly 
permitted to be cooped up in Charleston — from the 
campaign, in the absence of any other organized forces, 
they easily overran Georgia and particularly South 
Carolina. In order to make secure their possession, 
they established a number of well-fortified posts on 
every hand, the more important being located at Cam- 
den and Ninety-six, in North Carolina, and Augusta, 
in Georgia. Lord Cornwallis, a very able man, was left 
in command by Sir Henry Clinton, who went back to 
New York under the impression that the provinces 
south of Virginia had been absolutely and finally won 
back to the crown. Quite an unwarranted conclusion, 
as we shall see. 

After the capture of Charleston, Washington, though 
he could ill spare them himself, had detached a splendid 
division of Continental troops under the Baron DeKalb, 
a most capable ofiicer, to stem, if possible, the tide of 
the British success in the South, and form a nucleus 
upon which the militia of the invaded sections might 
rally. In opposition to his wish. Congress had desig- 
nated the incompetent Gates for the command of these 
forces, his friends exj^ecting him to repeat what they 
were pleased to call the "Burgoynade" of his Saratoga 
campaign, in the South. In the words of Charles Lee, 
"His Northern laurels changed to Southern willows," 
and in the disastrous Battle of Camden he was utterly 
and entirely defeated ; said defeat being due to his own 
stupidity, carelessness and gross inefficiency as a com- 
mander. The Baron De Kalb heroically fought with 
his veterans, whose courage and devotion somewhat 




-^ Q 



Greene's Carolina Campaign 87 

redeemed the day, until he fell covered with sixteen 
wounds and died a prisoner a short time after the bat- 
tle was over. The larger part of his veteran division 
was absolutely annihilated, a smaller part cut its way 
out of the British lines at the point of the bayonet and 
effected a retreat. The generalship of Cornwallis had 
been excellent and the conduct of his troops beyond 
question. It seemed as if nothing whatever could re- 
deem the South from the British and that they had at 
last established themselves securely in one not unim- 
portant portion of the revolted colonies. 

At this desperate juncture, Nathaniel Greene, Wash- 
ington's right arm, who had been originally chosen by 
that commander for the purpose, was sent to take com- 
mand of the department, i.e., all south of and includ- 
ing the State of Delaware. Except territory he had but 
little to command. Washington, however, generously 
detached the famous legion of "Light Horse Harry 
Lee," composed of light infantry and cavalry from his 
army, and sent them with Greene. He also sent an- 
other small squadron of horse — a very efficient body — 
commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel William A. Wash- 
ington, a kinsman of the great general and a man of the 
same school. The famous Daniel Morgan, who had 
withdrawn from the army on account of his ill-treat- 
ment in the matter of rank, by the blundering and in- 
competent Congress, rejoined the army after the defeat 
at Camden, nobly saying that an occasion of such 
public disaster was not the time in which to indulge 
private griefs. Lieutenant-Colonel Otho Williams, an- 
other distinguished soldier and cavalry leader, was also 
attached to Greene's skeleton army, the nucleus of 
which was the famous brigade of the old Maryland 
line, which had escaped after Camden; two regiments 



88 American Fights and Fighters 

of troops, about six lumdred in number, which I think 
did more and better service than any other in the Revo- 
lution ; there was also a remnant of the Delaware regi- 
ment, another good lot of men. In addition to this 
nucleus of veterans, a very efficient auxiliary existed 
in the Carolinas in the shape of partizan bands of ran- 
gers, who were led by such men as Pinckney, Sumter 
and Marion, than whom no more efficient leaders in 
the sort of warfare in which they excelled ever bestrode 
a horse, laid an ambush, or headed a charge. Gates 
had been inattentive to their services and had not 
recognized the possible value of these men. Greene 
utilized them to the greatest possible extent, and their 
brilliant and daring manoeuvers, under his direction, 
contributed as much as anything else to the success 
of his campaign. 

Von Steuben, with a few Continentals and the Vir- 
ginia militia, was left in charge of the operations in 
the State of Virginia by Greene as he went South. 
Before he arrived in the South to supersede Gates, a 
body of one thousand men, mostly Tories, led by Col- 
onel Patrick Ferguson, a very distinguished officer, 
had been utterly defeated in a hand to hand conflict in 
a strong position of their own choosing on King's 
Mountain, North Carolina, by an irregular assemblage 
of backwoodsmen, who had assembled for the purpose 
of wiping them out, and who dispersed as soon as 
they had done so. Ferguson was killed, with three 
hundred of his men, and the remainder were made 
prisoners; their arms and equipments being of great 
value to the Americans — indeed, during this campaign, 
the Americans lived off the country and armed off the 
enemy! Inasmuch as this was the force which Corn- 
wallis had intended to use as a flying column to keep 



Greene's Carolina Campaign 89 

himself in touch with the chain of posts he had estab- 
hshed on the borders of the State, its loss was felt by 
him rather severely, though, of course, it was neither 
vital nor irreparable, especially as he was soon rein- 
forced by a large body of troops despatched from New 
York by Sir Henry Clinton. When Greene arrived 
at Hillsboro, North Carolina, in December, 1780, he 
found about two thousand men had assembled. Corn- 
wallis, with the main body of the British, numbering 
about three thousand men, was at Camden. Large de- 
tachments garrisoned the posts at Ninety-six and Au- 
gusta, and smaller ones were scattered about at various 
forts in different parts of the State, such as Granby, 
Motte, Watson and others. 

The British had carried things with a high hand in 
their conquests and had actually attempted to force 
the inhabitants either to enter the British service or to 
be declared rebels. The policy was disastrous, as it 
raised up for the British a host of enemies, for many of 
the otherwise peaceable inhabitants, if they had to 
fight, naturally preferred to fight for, rather than 
against, their own. Colonel Banastre Tarleton, a very 
capable and enterprising young man, who commanded 
Cornwallis' cavalry, had made himself particularly ob- 
noxious by his method of carrying out his harsh orders 
and, as the inhabitants of the country had divided 
themselves between the British and the Americans, 
they add^d the usual neighborhood animosities to the 
political differences which separated them; and hang- 
ing, plundering and outraging in every way were evi- 
dences of the hatreds engendered, as always, in the 
internecine conflict which was waged. 

Since two complete American armies had been cap- 
tured or destroyed by the British, Greene had the great- 



90 American Fights and Fighters 

est difficulty in collecting more than two thousand men. 
The American force was not only smaller in number 
but it was not to be compared in quality to that of 
Cornwallis', whose troops included some of the finest 
of the British army — as was shown by their fighting 
on every field on which they were engaged — the chief 
of which were two battalions of the famous "House- 
hold Guards." Cornwallis had no illusions whatever 
regarding Greene. "He is as dangerous as Washing- 
ton," he wrote to a friend. He knew his quality ; he had 
felt his attack and witnessed his tactics on many a hard 
fought field in the Revolution. He remembered him 
at Trenton^; he recalled how he had brought up his 
division on the run for four miles, charging "toward 
the sound of the cannon" at Brandywine. He knew 
that Greene and his officers had been trained in the 
school of the great Washington — for whom the earl 
had conceived the most profound respect — and he re- 
solved to employ all the skill and address of which he 
was capable to defeat this new enemy, leaving nothing 
undone to accomplish his purpose; so the two armies 
faced each other, neither, for the moment, daring to 
take the initiative. For Greene knew that Cornwallis 
was the ablest of the British commanders also, and he 
could not afford to take even ordinary chances. They 
were like two wary fencers who have just crossed 
swords and are gently moving the blades up and down, 
looking for the necessary opening, neither being will- 
ing to disengage for fear of the other. 

But the pause could not be allowed to last long; 
every day strengthened the British hold on the South 
and made his own task harder, so it was incumbent 
upon Greene to do something. He could not attack 
with any possibility of success, and he had before him 



Greene's Carolina Campaign 91 

one supreme necessity, which was, that at whatever 
hazard and under whatever circumstances, he must pre- 
serve his army intact. So long as he had an army, 
even a Httle one, the British were not safe in their posi- 
tions ; but that last army once destroyed and dispersed, 
there was no further resource. After careful thought 
he came to a detemiination ; first despatching Marion 
and Sumter to harry the flanks and communications 
of the British and cut off the scattered detachments 
and bodies of loyalist reinforcements in the rear of the 
enemy — which they did with thoroughness and preci- 
sion — and throwing Williams to skirmish in Cornwal- 
lis' face, he decided to divide his little army into two 
great partizan bands. To do this was contrary to the 
usual laws of strategy, but the conditions were peculiar 
and anomalous, and subsequent events showed the wis- 
dom of his action. He gave Daniel Morgan about nine 
hundred men, including the Maryland Continentals, 
Washington's cavalry and some North Carolina mili- 
tia, and sent him off toward the British left, where he 
threatened in force Cornwallis' rear. Greene, with 
the main body of eleven hundred men, hurried down to 
the South and began that series of perplexing and an- 
noying marchings and countermarchings in which he 
became such a master ; playing a game of hide-and-seek 
with the English on a large scale and never getting 
caught. 

Cornwallis hesitated to move forward to attack 
Greene lest he should have Morgan down upon his 
rear. He also hesitated to turn and crush Morgan lest 
he should have Greene upon his rear ; also he could not 
leave Camden unprotected on account of the large 
quantity of stores and supplies there. His position 
was, therefore, a difficult one. He finally determined 



92 American Fights and Fighters 

to follow Greene's example and divide his force, so he 
despatched Tarleton with eleven hundred men to take 
care of Morgan, left a strong body under Leslie at 
Camden, and moved out to attack Greene, when, or if, 
he could catch him. But the wary American had no 
intention of being attacked, and manoeuvering his light 
force — which was without baggage or tents, or even 
shoes for that matter, such was their destitution — with 
great skill, he never permitted Cornwallis to force an 
action. He was here to-day and there to-morrow, 
never remaining more than a night in one spot; it was 
humiliating and exasperating to be always on the run, 
but it succeeded admirably. Cornw"allis and his men 
were kept fearfully busy, and accomplished nothing 
except to weary themselves in body and spirit. 

Meanwhile Tarleton had impetuously dashed away 
after Morgan. Morgan, a man of humble extraction, 
the son of a day-laborer, but of great native ability, 
was one of the striking figures of the Revolution. He 
had been a wagoner in Braddock's unfortunate expedi- 
tion, had felt the British lash upon his back for striking 
a comrade — he never forgot the feel of it, either, and 
paid back every stroke a thousandfold — had been 
given a commission for distinguished gallantry in that 
battle, and so made his way upward. When the Revo- 
lution broke out he led a splendid corps of backwoods 
riflemen "from the right bank of the Potomac" to 
Washington's army. He had participated in many 
desperate actions from Quebec to Saratoga and had 
served always with the greatest distinction and success. 
Morgan had emulated Greene's tactics — he was an old 
backwoodsman, and could do it to perfection — until he 
was ready to give battle; and he led Tarleton a long, 
perverse chase until he was almost worn out; then he 



Greene's Carolina Campaign 93 

resolved to hazard an action at the Cowpens. It was a 
small affair in point of the numhers engaged — all the 
battles of the campaign were that — but tactically it was 
an unusually brilliant combat. Morgan selected as 
a place to light a slight acclivity behind which an un- 
fordable river, the Broad, bent in a wide circle. The 
ground was open or but thinly wooded. There was 
no possibility of retreat. He said that he wanted his 
militia to feel that there was no method of getting 
away, they would have to fight or die. If he had pos- 
sessed any boats, no doubt, like Cortez, he would have 
burned them. There were no marshes about into which 
the possible retreaters could plunge, there was no open 
country through which they could break in wild panic 
as they had done at Camden and elsewhere. The night 
before the probable battle Morgan clearly explained 
his plan to his officers, and then walked up and down 
among the men, stopping at the various camp fires, and 
in plain, homely phrase talked over the matter with 
them, animating them with his own heroic purpose, 
and promising them, with their assistance, that the old 
"wagoner would crack his whip over Tarleton," etc. 

Word had been brought to Tarleton, through Mor- 
gan's connivance, that the Americans proposed to wait 
for him, and at three o'clock in the morning of January 
17, 1 78 1, he put his men in motion to take them by sur- 
prise. He was not early enough to catch the old hunter 
napping, however, for when he appeared upon the scene 
Morgan had his force under arms and was ready 
for the attack. He had the militia drawn up in line 
about three hundred yards in front of the hill. Above 
them on the hill he had drawn up the Continental 
line ; on the bank of the river and screened by the brow 
of the hill from the observation of the enemy, was the 



94 American Fights and Fighters 

cavalry under Washington in reserve. Morgan had 
ridden up and down the hue commanding and exhort- 
ing the mihtia to fire at least two well-aimed volleys, 
when he would permit them to retreat, if the British 
advanced, around the left flank of the Continentals, 
and re-form in safety back of the hill ; imploring them 
for the sake of their country and their homes to heed 
his words, deliver the two volleys and retire slowly 
in good order, preserving their ranks. They promised 
to do so. He also cautioned the Continentals that the 
militia would retire and bade them withhold their fire 
until the order was given, and he further admonished 
Washington to be on the alert with his cavalry all the 
time, but to make no move until directed. 

Tarleton's men, who had been marching half the 
night over the muddy roads, were tired out, but their 
restless leader gave them no opportunity for rest. Just 
as the sun rose he came in sight of the American camp 
and immediately sounded the charge. The British 
rushed through the woods and fell on the militia under 
Pickens, who, remarkable to state, stood up manfully 
and delivered not only one or two, but several well- 
aimed volleys before they retired in good order around 
the left flank. The British had become somewhat dis- 
organized in the attack, but they were led forward by 
the dashing Tarleton himself, with the utmost brav- 
ery, and their superior numbers permitted them to 
overlap the right flank of the Continental line. Mor- 
gan, to prevent this flank, refused his line, and to do 
that it became necessary for the Continentals there to 
withdraw a little. The British mistaking the movement, 
which was successfully carried out under fire by the 
Marylanders under John Eager Howard, for a retreat, 



Greene's Carolina Campaign 95 

rushed forward shouting victory. When Howard had 
reached his proper position, he immediately turned 
about and dehvered a volley at close range, and rushed 
forward with the bayonet. 

At this juncture, by Morgan's orders, Washington's 
cavalry dashed around the hill and fell upon the Brit- 
ish right, the Continentals opposite the British center 
advancing at the same time. Meanwhile the militia, 
elated by their successful resistance, had been re- 
formed at the back of the hill by the heroic Pickens, 
and came on the field on the dead run, circling around 
the left flank of the British just where they were being 
severely pressed by Howard. Old Morgan at once 
ordered a general advance and the British forces were 
surrounded. The Continentals broke their ranks with 
a deadly fire at thirty yards and rushed upon them in 
a stern bayonet charge. The greater part of the Brit- 
ish army threw down its arms and surrendered at once. 
Six hundred prisoners were taken, and only about two 
hundred and fifty escaped from the conflict, Tarleton 
being among them. He only got away after a furious 
hand to hand conflict with Washington in which he 
was wounded. The British lost about three hundred 
in killed and wounded, two field pieces and one thou- 
sand stand of arms, two colors, thirty-four wagons, 
one hundred horses and a large number of tents, all 
very useful indeed as the Americans were mainly 
without them. The victory was complete and deci- 
sive. The Americans had absolutely captured or killed 
more than their entire force engaged. The tactics 
of Morgan had been crowned with the most bril- 
liant success. He had so manoeuvered that with an 
inferior force he had literally surrounded and captured 



96 American Fights and Fighters 

a larger force opposing hijii, and he had actually made 
his militia fight ! His loss in killed and wounded only- 
amounted to seventy-three. 

The tidings reached Green and Cornwallis about the 
same time. Cornwallis immediately made for the 
fords of the Catawba to intercept Morgan and his men. 
During this period, however, and it was the only oc- 
casion during the campaign that he did not move with 
his accustomed celerity, he hesitated and appeared 
undecided. Greene at once put the main body of his 
army in motion under the command of General Huger, 
and told him to move north at all speed, collecting all 
the boats as he went, while he himself, attended by a 
single officer and an orderly, rode at full speed one 
hundred and fifty miles to join Morgan. By desperate 
marching Morgan, though he had the greater distance 
to cover, succeeded in reaching the fords of the Cataw- 
ba, where Greene found him, and crossed with all his 
prisoners and booty before Cornwallis arrived there. 
Then the British commander at last waked up. Sum- 
moning all his detachments to his aid, he started on a 
furious pursuit of the Americans, led by Greene and 
Morgan. There never was such desperate marching. 
Greene gathered up the boats as he went, destroying 
those he could not use, and actually mounting the rest 
on wheels like wagons ! Cornwallis was close on the 
heels of his enemy all the time and, in spite of the dis- 
advantages under which he labored, he almost caught 
him on several occasions. To accelerate his move- 
ments, the British commander burned all but the ab- 
solutely necessary baggage and followed hard the re- 
treating Americans. Leaving Morgan to push ahead. 
Greene essayed to rouse the militia, but with little 
success, as Cornwallis was too quick for him and 



Greene's Carolina Campaign 97 

too close on his heels to give them time to as- 
semble. We get a fine picture of the desperate straits 
to which the Americans were reduced in effecting 
their escape and the fierce energy of the pursuit, when 
we see Greene riding up late at night in a drenching 
rain to the tavern at Salisbury on the night of February 
first, after receiving the news that one detachment of 
militia, upon which he had counted to dispute the pas- 
sage of the Catawba, had been cut to pieces and its 
commander killed, and that Cornwallis had almost 
reached Morgan. The tavern keeper expressed sur- 
prise at seeing him alone. 

"Yes," he said sadly, "tired, hungry, alone and pen- 
niless !" 

But it takes such conditions to develop some men 
best, and Greene, like Washington, was never so dan- 
gerous as when he was pushed to the wall ; the British 
were to learn that presently. Cornwallis was unable 
to prevent the junction of the two armies near Guil- 
ford Court House, but in spite of the fact that he was 
outnumbered, he still persisted in the pursuit. Greene's 
forethought and his traveling boats enabled him to 
make his escape, and Cornwallis was foiled at the 
Catawba, the Yadkin and the Dan in quick succession. 
Finally, when he had driven Greene into Virginia, as 
he was far away from his base of supplies, and as he 
was in great need of that baggage which he had burned 
some time since, he gave over the pursuit, saying that 
he had successfully forced the enemy out of the State, 
which was perfectly true. This was the first act of the 
drama. Things looked dark for the Americans then. 
They did not intend to stay forced out, however, and 
the second act began when the indefatigable Greene 
recrossed the Dan and moved out on the heels of, 



98 American Fights and Fighters 

though at a safe distance from, CornwalHs, who began 
to move slowly to the southward to reach his base of 
supplies again. 

By detachments of militia and a brigade of Virginia 
Continentals, who were mostly raw troops, Greene's 
force was increased to something like four thousand 
men, and with it he resolved to give battle at Guilford 
Court House. Cornwallis was nothing loath to engage, 
indeed, he was desperately anxious for a fight, by 
which he trusted to retrieve his somewhat precarious 
situation. On the morning of March fifteenth, Greene 
drew up his men in three lines; the North Carolina 
militia in the first, the Virginia militia in the second, 
the famous Marylanders in the third, which was placed 
on the top of a hill, and the Virginia Continentals in 
reserve. I.ee's legion was on one flank of the first line, 
Washington's cavalry and some Delaware riflemen on 
the other, and Singleton's two guns in the center. 
Cornwallis had about twenty-two hundred men, the 
best in the service. Their fighting that day was simply 
magnificent. He boldly attacked the first line early in 
the morning. Most of the battalions comprising it 
fled without firing a shot, as usual. Singleton with- 
drew with his giins on the run. The legion and 
cavalry and the riflemen retreated on the second line, 
which stood firm and actually checked the British 
advance for a time, but the heroic Englishmen pressed 
forward with the bayonet and finally succeeded in 
breaking the line. Detached parties engaged the rifle- 
men, the cavalry and the legion, and gradually drove 
them down the field, separating them in the center. 
Meanwhile the main body of the British rushed for 
that part of the hill held by the Second Maryland ; this 
regiment, not so good a one as the First, was broken by 



Greene's Carolina Campaign 99 

the furious British attack and the two guns belonging 
to it were captured. 

Greene immediately threw the First Maryland into 
the breach and they recaptured the guns by a dashing 
bayonet charge which pierced the British center. At 
the same time Lee and Washington, who had succeed- 
ed in getting clear of their antagonists, fell simultane- 
ously on the British flanks. The British line was 
broken in the center and began to give ground slightly, 
in the face of the furious American attack. To stay 
their retreat, Cornwallis brought his artillery into ac- 
tion and, in spite of the remonstrances of his officers, 
fired at the approaching Americans through the lines 
of his own troops, some of whom were killed by shot 
from their own guns. It was a desperate measure, but 
the exigency of the situation warranted it. Cornwallis 
now put in his reserves and Tarleton's cavalry and the 
advance of the Americans was first checked and then 
they retreated back to the hill in disorder. 

By great exertions Cornwallis re-formed his lines 
and, concentrating them, advanced his artillery, which 
continued to play upon the broken Americans with 
great effect. The Virginia Continentals had not yet 
been actively engaged. It is possible that if Greene 
had thrown them in at this moment, he might have 
crushed Cornwallis and won the day. Whether or no 
it could have been done is a grave problem. The Vir- 
ginians were green hands and the British were veterans 
already flushed with success. If the Virginians failed 
in their attack, Greene's army would be ruined. His 
personal preference would have been to put in every 
last man and try out the issue to the bitter end, but the 
loss of the army would mean the loss of everything, 
and, bitterly against his inclination, as the British ad- 



loo American Fights and Fighters 

vanced, he gave the order to retreat. It was a sad mo- 
ment for the young commander, but stern and inexora- 
ble necessity dictated his course. That retreat at the 
crisis of that still undecided battle was much more 
heroic and evidenced more courage and generalship 
than anything else he could have done. The British 
were too badly shattered to pursue, and Greene with- 
drew to the northward in good order, taking his guns 
with him — they had done well, but they had been 
defeated. 

We have to look along the pages of history for a 
hundred years to find such fighting as the whole British 
army did on one side, and as the famous First Mary- 
land did on the other, on that day, and we do not find 
it until we come to old Thomas at Chickamauga. It 
was a glorious and splendid victory for Cornwallis 
and his outnumbered army, but the winning of it cost 
him dear. He had lost in killed and wounded over six 
hundred men, more than one-fourth of his total force ! 
"A few. more victories like that 'and we are undone," 
said Fox, when he heard the news. The situation of 
Cornwallis was now more precarious than ever, in spite 
of his triumph. He had almost expended his supply of 
ammunition, he was over two hundred miles away 
from his base of supplies, Marion and Sumter were 
pressing heavily upon his flanks, Williams was skir- 
mishing boldly in front, and he found himself actually 
compelled to retreat. But where should he go ? Tore- 
turn to Charleston was intolerable. He finally deter- 
mined upon niaking his way to the seaboard, whence 
he could communicate with headquarters and look for 
assistance from the fleet. So on the third day after 
the battle, leaving his sick and wounded, he put his 
army in motion for Wilmington, North Carolina, leav- 



Greene's Carolina Campaign loi 

ing the command of the troops in South CaroHna to 
Lord Rawdon. The decision was really forced upon 
him; he did not dare to attempt the long march back 
to South Carolina in his condition, and there is where 
Greene displayed another touch of his splendid strat- 
egy. He surmised that Cornwallis could only go one 
of two ways when he reached the seaboard, /. c, back 
to Charleston, where he wanted him to be, or up to 
Virginia, where he could be brought in contact with 
the terrible Washington. Therefore, instead of fol- 
lowing Cornwallis, Greene at once gathered up his 
army and thrust himself boldly between the two British 
commanders ; leaving Cornwallis to pursue his way un- 
hindered and unpursued, he at once turned south to 
fall upon Rawdon. The American commander had 
actually forced Cornwallis out of the field and elimi- 
nated him and his army from future operations ! When 
the astonished earl found out that he was not being 
followed, it was too late for him to retrace his steps, 
and with, I imagine, a heavy heart, he made his way 
into Virginia. We shall see what became of him there 
later on. 



GREENE'S CAMPAIGN IN THE 
CAROLINAS 



11. Hobkirk's Hill, Eutaw Springs and 

THE END 

After carefully considering the situation, Greene de- 
termined upon his course of action. Pickens was 
directed, with his partizan band, to threaten the left 
flank of the British lines at Ninety-six, Marion and 
Lee were to move upon the small posts on the right 
flank between Camden and Charleston, Sumter was to 
operate in the rear, while he, himself, with the four 
Continental regiments — two Maryland and two Vir- 
ginia — and Washington's cavalry moved down to attack 
the center. The campaign was planned with the great- 
est skill and care, and though the forces were inconsid- 
erable — Greene's whole command scarcely amounting 
to fifteen hundred men — the game was played as bril- 
liantly and the results are as instructive to the student 
of military matters as if the armies had been as great as 
that of Xerxes. On the sixth of April the march be- 
gan. Marion and Lee at once struck for Fort Watson, 
an irregular stockade which had been erected on an old 
Indian mound which dominated the plain for several 
miles around. It was defended by one hundred and 

102 



Greene's Carolina Campaign 103 

twenty soldiers, under Lieutenant McKay. Neither 
.Marion nor McKay had any artillery, and rifle fire was 
of course ineffective against the stockade. Marion 
cut off the water supply, but McKay dug a well. The 
fort had been amply provisioned, and the Americans 
were in a dilemma. Finally it occurred to one of the 
officers, a certain Colonel Maham, to build a wooden 
tower high enough to command the fort — it was an 
undertaking as old as Caesar. The country was heavily 
wooded and the stalwart men quickly acted upon the 
idea. When day broke on April twenty-third the as- 
tonished garrison saw that their position was com- 
manded by a high wooden tower which had been 
erected during the night. Its top was covered with men 
who were protected by heavy planking from their fire, 
and who picked them off at leisure. At its foot was a 
breastwork lined with riflemen ; a sortie to destroy the 
tower was out of the question. There was nothing to do 
but surrender, and they accordingly hauled down their 
flag. The success at Fort Watson was repeated by 
Marion at Forts Motte and Granby. On the other side, 
Sumter took Orangeburg and various small posts, and 
cleared the country. Pickens and his militia raided 
the country, destroying parties of royalists in every 
direction, and constantly hovered about Ninety-six. 
To anticipate a little, on the fifth of June, the post at 
Augusta, after a most obstinate and desperate defense, 
was captured by Lee and his partizans. 

The British had now nothing left except Camden 
and Ninety-six. Since the defeat of the previous year 
the post at Camden had been carefully fortified and 
strengthened, and when Greene moved down to it on 
the twenty-fifth of April, he found it too strong for 
attack by his little force of about eleven hundred men, 



104 American Fights and Fighters 

so he withdrew and took up a strong position on an 
elevation called Hobkirk's Hill, a few miles north 
of the town. Rawdon, who was in command of all the 
British forces, at once determined to attack him. Early 
in the morning of April twenty-fifth he moved out 
with his whole force, numbering a few more than nine 
hundred men. Greene had drawn up his four regi- 
ments in line upon the hill, the two Virginia regiments 
on the right and the two Maryland on the left. The 
North Carolina militia, small in numbers and poor in 
quality in this instance, were placed in the rear of the 
hill, Washington's squadron of cavalry was stationed 
in reserve. What remained of the Delaware regiment 
was thrown out on the picket line. 

The British came on gallantly, led by Rawdon in 
person. As they struggled up the road and through 
the narrow clearing before the American position, 
Greene determined, since he had the most men, to 
flank them. He therefore swung the Virginia and 
Maryland regiments on each end of his line in to- 
ward the British column, at the same time ordering 
a general advance. Washington meanwhile was di- 
rected to sweep around the British left and attack 
their rear. He did this with brilliant success, cap- 
turing over two hundred men of Rawdon's little army, 
including all the surgeons. The North Carolina 
militia were also ordered to advance, which they did 
reluctantly. 

The little battle on the side of the hill was joined 
with the utmost fury. The outnumbered British dis- 
played their usual resolution and bravely advanced in 
the face of a furious discharge of grape from Greene's 
two guns. The attack of the Americans, however, 
was proving too much for the British and they com- 



Greene's Carolina Campaign 105 

menced to give ground, though still preserving good 
order and battling furiously. At this juncture, Cap- 
tain Beatty, leading the charge of the famous First 
Maryland, was killed. His company of Continentals 
halted and under a bitter return charge led by the in- 
trepid Rawdon, they gave ground a little. The veteran 
commander of the regiment seems to have lost his head 
at this moment, for he gave the order to fall back, 
intending, as he said, to form a new line on the com- 
pany which had given ground ; but it is a bad thing 
to order a regiment to fall back during a battle, and 
these famous veterans, who had shown their mettle on 
nearly every field in the Revolution, and may be con- 
sidered the very flower of the famous Continental line, 
hastily broke and ran. Rawdon was quick to see his 
advantage and the attack was pressed more vigorous- 
ly than ever. The defection of the Marylanders, who 
had been to Greene what the Tenth Legion had been to 
Caesar, was simply heart-breaking, and it occurred at 
the very moment when victory was within their grasp. 
The panic unsettled the other regiments, which had done 
so well, and there was a moment of indecision all along 
the line — another moment or two and the army would 
have been routed. 

The Americans were wavering and retiring and the 
fight had reached their guns. Greene was in the very 
thick of it, as was Rawdon, and both narrowly escaped 
being killed. The efforts the two men made were pro- 
digious — Greene to stand his ground and Rawdon to 
continue his advance. The First Marylanders were 
rallied by their officers and came on again, though, 
of course, not with their usual spirit and success. 
Rawdon's attack, however, would have been suc- 
cessful, had it not been for the arrival of Washington, 



io6 American Fights and Fighters 

who had learned of the disaster and had acted with 
the promptness of Greene himself; releasing his 
prisoners, he brought up his cavalry on the gallop. 
His quick eye detected the critical nature of the 
situation, and he boldly charged through the scat- 
tered ranks of his own army and fell like a thunder- 
bolt upon the British about the guns. By the mad 
impetuosity of his charge, Rawdon's men were borne 
back and driven down the hill. But a moment's respite 
was afforded by this rugged little band of heroic caval- 
rymen, and as soon as the force of their dash was spent 
Rawdon re-formed the men. But that moment had been 
enough for Greene. He had instantly taken advantage 
of that diversion to withdraw his guns in good order 
and effect a retreat! Rawdon hovered in his rear, 
which was covered by the remnants of Washington's 
intrepid cavalry, for a little while, but finally returned 
to Camden. 

The loss on the American side was nineteen killed, 
one hundred and fifteen wounded and one hundred and 
thirty-six missing, most of the latter being militia, 
making a total of two hundred and seventy. The Brit- 
ish loss was thirty-eight killed and two hundred and 
twenty wounded and missing. The total number en- 
gaged on both sides was about two thousand, making 
the total percentage of loss about twenty-five! As 
usual, Greene had lost a battle but had won a campaign. 
Rawdon, finding his communications cut off in every 
direction, was forced to abandon Camden and retreat 
upon Charleston. Greene was very much chagrined 
over his lost battle, which he would have won but for 
an unaccountable accident, but he philosophically made 
the best of the situation and resolutely girded up his 



Greene's Carolina Campaign 107 

loins for another fight. To the "French minister he 
wrote at this time : "We fight, we get beat, rise and 
fight again," and the state of his mind is indicated by 
his orders for the day after the battle. The parole he 
gave was "Perseverance," and the countersign, "Forti- 
tude." There was something very fine in the grim 
tenacity and persistence of this devoted soldier. 

Greene at once moved forward and. laid siege to the 
last British post in the interior at Ninety-six. It was 
the strongest of the British fortifications and the most 
heavily garrisoned. The commanding officer was Col- 
onel Cruger, of the famous New York regiment of loy- 
alists. He skilfully and bravely defended his post. 
On the twenty-second of May, Greene and Kosciusko, 
the Polish engineer, made a careful reconnoissance of 
the position. The works were so strong that the Amer- 
ican despaired of effecting their capture with his small 
force, yet he determined to attempt it. The operations 
carried on were those of a regular siege, approaches be- 
ing made by parallels, and the first parallel was broken 
at about seventy yards from the fort on a dark, rainy 
night. It was too near the works and, by a brilliant 
sally, which was a complete success, Cruger broke 
up the intrenching party, captured their tools, de- 
stroyed the parallel, and returned without loss to his 
entrenchments. The next parallel was opened at four 
hundred yards — a proper distance — and the work was 
thenceforward carried on vigorously and successful- 
ly, though interrupted by frequent bold sorties from 
the fort. A mine was begun at the end of the first 
parallel, guns were mounted on the second, and the 
cannonading began. Cruger was summoned to surren- 
der on the third of June, and indignantly refused, 



io8 American Fights and Fighters 

whereupon the third parallel was opened close to the 
works. To facilitate their operations, the besiegers 
made use of the Maham tower, which they found so 
effective at Fort Watson and elsewhere. 

Meanwhile reinforcements had arrived at Charleston 
for Rawdon, and he at once advanced to relieve Nine- 
ty-six. Lee had come in from the successful siege of 
Augusta, which had raised the number of Greene's 
force somewhat, though the other reinforcements, 
which were to be sent to him from Virginia, had been 
retained to defend that state against Cornwallis's in- 
cursion. On the twelfth of June a man from Rawdon 
succeeded in reaching Cruger with the advice that the 
British commander had passed Orangeburg and was 
marching hard to raise the siege. But little time was 
left for the Americans, and as Greene could not bear to 
abandon the siege without making a final effort to 
capture the post, he decided to attempt to storm the 
works. The assault was delivered with the greatest 
gallantry and was partially successful, as the attacking 
forces succeeded in establishing themselves in one of 
the bastions. It was quite possible, if Greene had put 
in every man he possessed, to have made good his foot- 
ing and captured the fort. It was equally possible that 
he might do so and still get no further than he had. It 
was the old cjuestion that presented itself to him at 
Guilford Court House, and he wisely chose to give up 
a possible success in the face of a possible lost army, 
so he reluctantly abandoned the siege. The defense 
of Cruger had been magnificent. The American loss 
had been one hundred and forty-seven; that of the 
British, eighty-eight. 

Rawdon arrived on the twenty-first of June with 
about twenty-five hundred men. He immediately left 



Greene's Carolina Campaign 109 

in pursuit of Greene, but the wily American was not to 
be caught by him any more than by Cornwalhs. The 
two armies never came in contact, though Rawdon's 
advance did some heavy skirmishing with Lee and 
Washington. Greene estabhshed himself on Rawdon's 
flanks, changing his camp daily, until the enemy gave 
up the futile pursuit indisgust. Abandoning Ninety-six, 
his last stronghold in the interior, which was untenable 
now that the other British posts had been captured. Raw- 
don retreated once more to Charleston. Again Greene 
had been defeated, but had won a campaign! As soon 
as Rawdon faced toward the sea, Greene was on his 
heels again with the partizan cavalry hovering about 
his flanks. No man was ever better served by his 
scouts than Greene, and did Rawdon stop his march and 
face about, the wary American at once withdrew from 
his vicinity. It was impossible to bring him to battle or 
to force him at bay, so the superior and victorious army 
continued its dogged march to the seaboard, pursued 
and aggravated and goaded on by the inferior and de- 
feated force. They might defeat Greene, but they could 
not disarrange his plans or break his spirit ; and his men 
seem to have entered into the feelings and aspirations 
of their leader. 

It has not been mentioned before, but in this whole 
campaign, from beginning to end, Greene never had 
anything that was necessary to make an efficient army. 
His men were deficient in everything. He had no 
money, no tents, no provisions, no supply-train, but 
little ammunition, and arms which were mainly cap- 
tured from their enemy; the men were barefoot, ragged, 
hungry, tired, sick and wounded — but they were men ! 
And they showed it in the whole campaign. On the 
tenth of July Sumter and Marion joined Greene with 



no American Fights and Fighters 

about one thousand state troops and militia, bringing 
up his total force to about two thousand men. He at 
once determined to give battle again, and moved closer 
to the retreating Rawdon, who had by this time reached 
Orangeburg. Greene occupied a strong position in 
front of Rawdon, expecting that the British commander 
would come out and attack him. Rawdon, however, 
declined to do so, his experience at Hobkirk's Hill 
had been sufficient to discourage him; and finding the 
British position too strong to be carried, Greene with- 
drew to the high hills of the Santee to give his tatter- 
demalion heroes an opportunity to recuperate during" 
the hot months of the summer, while the partizan 
bands continued their adventurous raids with much 
success in the vicinity of Charleston. 

Rawdon, sick and worn out with his arduous cam- 
paigning, started to New York on leave of absence, 
turning over the command to Colonel Stewart. The 
vessel in which Rawdon sailed had the ill-luck to be 
captured by De Grasse, and the unfortunate comman- 
der had the privilege of sharing the fate which soon 
after befell his old leader and chief, Cornwallis. On 
the twenty-third of August the indomitable American 
commander broke camp and moved for Stewart's right 
flank" in the hope of interposing himself between that 
commander and Charleston. On account of the lack 
of river transportation, a circuitous march was neces- 
sitated which led him through Camden. As soon as 
Stewart heard that Greene was on the move, he began a 
retreat toward Charleston, and finally established him- 
self in a strong position at a place called Eutaw 
Springs. Greene, sending all his heavy baggage to the 
rear, at once moved forward in pursuit. On the eighth 
of September the two armies were almost in touch. 



Greene's Carolina Campaign 1 1 1 

Greene formed his little force of about twenty-three 
hundred men, one half of whom were Continentals 
and the rest militia, in two columns, the North and 
South Carolina militia in one column, the Continentals 
from North Carolina, Virginia and Maryland in the 
other, and advanced early in the morning as usual, to 
make the attack ; this time he determined to begin the 
battle instead of waiting the British attack as hereto- 
fore. Lee was stationed on the right flank, Henderson, 
with some South Carolina cavalry, on the left, Wash- 
ington and the remnants of the Delaware battalion in 
the rear. Two three-pound guns went with the first 
column and two six-pound guns with the second. 
Stewart's force amounted to about twenty-five hundred 
men — or about the same number as Greene had — and 
comprised the sixty-third and sixty-fifth regiments, a 
battalion of grenadiers, Cruger's loyal New Yorkers, 
and the third regiment from Ireland, known as the 
"Buffs." They were encamped in a little clearing in 
the midst of thick woods. 

Greene stole up to them without being observed. 
Two deserters apprised Stewart of Greene's proximity, 
but he did not credit their story. Nevertheless, early 
in the morning a small detachment of cavalry was sent 
out to cover the "rooting parties," who were accus- 
tomed to dig for sweet potatoes for the various regi- 
ments every morning. This cavalry picket, under 
Captain Coffin, met the advance guard of the Ameri- 
cans at eight o'clock in the morning about four 
miles from Eutaw Springs. Thinking that he had to 
do with militia as usual. Coffin charged, but retreated 
immediately, leaving forty prisoners in the hands of the 
Americans and a large number of dead and wounded 
on the field. The unarmed potato pickers, hearing the 



112 American Fights and Fighters 

fire, came out on the road and were all captured — it 
was an auspicious opening of the day. The rattle of 
the small arms in the woods at once apprised Stewart 
that something serious was about to happen, and he 
drew up his force under the trees across the road lead- 
ing through the forest, his three pieces of artillery 
commanding the road. A battalion of light infantry 
protected the right flank, the British reserve being sta- 
tioned on the left. Greene deployed his two columns 
into line as quickly as the thickly wooded ground 
would permit, and sent the artillery on ahead to open 
the battle. He moved his forces forward slowly until 
he came upon the enemy's lines. 

The militia, who formed the first line, under Pickens 
and Marion fought with the greatest determination, 
holding their ground for a long time, but they were 
finally forced back in the center. The North Carolina 
Continentals were then ordered forward to reinforce 
the first line, which again renewed the battle and 
gained some ground, though it was afterward slowly 
driven back again. Greene then despatched Wash- 
ington and his cavalry against the British right, under 
Major Marjoribanks, and Lee, with the light infantry 
and the cavalry of the legion, against the British left. 
At the same time, Colonels Williams and Camp- 
bell, wath the Virginia and Maryland Continentals, 
were sent forward to the first line and were in- 
structed not to fire but to make free use of the bayonet, 
Greene himself leading the charge. Their determined 
assault was bravely met all along the line. Meanwhile 
Washington was unsuccessful on the left ; Marjoribanks 
put up a desperate defense, and the thick woods did not 
allow the cavalry to be used to advantage. Washing- 
ton's horse was shot under him, he was thrust through 



Greene's Carolina Campaign 1 13 

with a bayonet, and would have been kihed had it not 
been for a British officer who took him prisoner. All his 
officers but two were killed or wounded, and he lost 
over one half of his men. The remnant of his force 
was driven back and their retreat was covered by Col- 
onel Wade Hampton and some South Carolina parti- 
zans. In the center, however, things had gone better. 
The men came to close quarters and crossed bayonets. 
Colonel Campbell was killed, Colonels Henderson and 
Howard likewise, and many others wounded. The 
struggle was maintained with the utmost fury and 
without advantage on either side, the lines swaying 
back and forth like gigantic wrestlers, until Lee, who 
had succeeded in breaking the British left, turned and 
took the British line in reverse. As the light horse 
came sweeping down on the flank, the British gave way 
in every direction. Two of the three guns were cap- 
tured, three hundred prisoners were taken, and finally 
the whole line broke and fled for life, hotly pursued by 
the triumphant Continentals on the dead run. 

The British forces rushed pell-mell through the 
woods until they reached the clearing, where Stewart 
finally succeeded in rallying them some distance in the 
rear of the camp. Cruger and Sheridan and the New 
Yorkers threw themselves in a stout brick house on the 
edge of a garden surrounded by a high fence. Mar- 
joribanks and his men took possession of the fence 
and poured in a heavy fire. The British and Lee's 
men had reached the house at the same time ; there was 
a furious struggle for its possession, but the British 
finally secured it, and by the most heroic exertions, 
Stewart got his line re-formed. From the upper win- 
dows of the house the New Yorkers poured a hot fire 
on the Continentals. Unfortunately, the American 



1 14 American Fights and Fighters 

advance had led straight through the British camp, 
which was filled with good things to eat, as breakfast 
was being prepared when the fight began. The men 
would have resisted the temptation which lay in ordi- 
nary plunder, but they were actually hungry. They 
fell into great disorder in the presence of the first sub- 
stantial breakfast they had seen for perhaps six months ! 
The British seeing the state of affairs made a deter- 
mined advance. It was met with varying success; in 
some parts of the line they took prisoners and drove 
the Americans back, in other parts they were repulsed. 
The balance of the advantage, however, was with them, 
and in the confusion, in which the Americans had been 
led by their appetites, Greene determined to withdraw 
— another bitter resolution but, as usual, a wise one. 
It was now nearly noon, the battle having lasted about 
four hours. Greene fell back to his camp of the morn- 
ing and Stewart, of course, attempted no pursuit. On 
the next day the P2nglishman destroyed his baggage 
and supplies and leaving his sick and wounded and one 
thousand stand of arms, he began a hasty retreat to- 
ward Charleston. 

This may be counted, fairly enough, a victory for 
Greene, though the British have always claimed it as a 
drawn battle. Greene reported to Washington that it 
was the most bloody battle and obstinate fight he ever 
saw. The American loss was five hundred and twenty- 
two, one fourth of their entire strength, the loss of the 
officers being unusually severe. The British loss, ac- 
cording to their own figures, was seven hundred, but 
the number of prisoners which Greene carried off the 
field of battle brought the British loss up to at least 
nine hundred, which made it almost forty per cent, of 
the number engaged ! Thereafter the British withdrew 




Oh .= 



Greene's Carolina Campaign 115 

within the walls of Charleston and there they stayed, 
and there was no more war in the Carolinas. 

For about eight months Greene had been in the 
field. His force had fought four pitched battles, one of 
which, the Cowpens, had been an overwhelming victory, 
two others, Guilford Court House and Hobkirk's 
Hill, defeats, and the last one, Eutaw Springs, a sub- 
stantial victory. He had won from an enemy, who 
always overmatched him in their total numbers, three 
provinces. He had carried on one determined siege — 
Ninety-six — himself, and through his lieutenants had 
captured every other fortified post in his department. 
He had so manoeuvered as to always have the greater 
force — with the exception of the action at the Cow- 
pens — at the point of attack, although the total number 
of his command was always greatly inferior to the total 
of the British. He had forced Cornwallis and his 
troops out of the field, had out-manoeuvered Raw- 
don, had beaten Stewart, and had captured every posi- 
tion for which he had made an attempt. He had been 
pursued with the most determined persistence by all 
the British commanders in turn, and had outwitted 
them all, marching over a thousand miles at the 
head of his men. He had done this with an army 
which at no time consisted of more than one thou- 
sand regular soldiers; he had made the best possible 
use of the irregulars, the militia, and the partizan 
bands of Marion and Sumter, and had preserved 
peace and harmony between those dashing soldiers, 
unaccustomed to brook restraint from any one. He 
had done this without a military treasure chest, 
without supplies — almost without assistance from any 
one — single-handed and alone. All this constitutes a 
military achievement almost unparalleled. 



ii6 American Fights and Fighters 

There was no more fighting, for six weeks after the 
battle of Etitaw Springs Cornwallis surrendered, and 
one year afterward Charleston was evacuated. At 
the head of his ragged veterans, on December 14, 1782, 
the gallant Rhode Islander entered the city. The grate- 
ful people, crowding the streets in the sunshine of that 
winter morning, rained flowers and blessings upon the 
great soldier, who had so brilliantly fought their battles. 
The legislatures of the various States gave him large 
grants of land and some gifts of money, most of which 
went to redeem the personal pledges he had made from 
time to time, of his personal credit, to get bread and 
powder for his devoted men. Four years after the war 
lie died of sunstroke in that South land for which he 
had warred and in which he had chosen to make his 
home. These are the words regarding him, written 
by one of his friends, his comrade "Mad Anthony 
Wayne." 

"My dear friend. General Greene, is no more. He 
was great as a soldier, greater as a citizen, immaculate as 
a friend. Pardon this scrawl, my feelings are too much 
affected, because I have seen a great and good man 
die." In the long roll of men who made possible that 
glorious liberty which we now enjoy, by their sacri- 
fices and struggles and their heroic devotion in the hard 
days of the Revolution, no name, save Washington, 
should stand higher than that of the great and heroic 
soldier to whom the South owes her independence. 



STORM AND SURPRISE 



I. TICONDEROGA 

Up to the date of the Civil War there was more fight- 
ing" around the point which Lotbiniere fortified at the 
head of Lake George than in any other spot on the con- 
tinent; from the days of the advent of the romantic 
Champlain,who fought a severe battle with the Iroquois 
where the fort was subsequently located, to and includ- 
ing the War of 1812, it was the scene of innumerable 
conflicts. In the year 1775 the fort, which had cost the 
English so much blood and treasure to capture from the 
French, was negligently garrisoned by forty-three men 
under the command of Captain Delaplace. It was an 
immense depot of supplies, there being not less than 
two hundred cannon, besides large quantities of other 
military stores of great value, kept there and at the 
adjoining post of Crown Point. 

Fired by the news of Lexington and Concord, Bene- 
dict Arnold had suggested the possibility of the capture 
of the fort at Ticonderoga. His proposed enterprise 
had been sanctioned and he was granted a colonel's 
command by the State of Massachusetts, with permis- 
sion to enlist a regiment wherever he could, to carry 

117 



ii8 American Fights and Fighters 

out his project. A similar idea, however, had occurred 
to one Ethan Allen who, in command of a small party 
of hardy men known as the "Green Mountain Boys," 
had been maintaining, a la Robin Hood, a bold freedom 
in the hills of Vermont and New Hampshire, in open 
rebellion to the authority of the Province of New York, 
which claimed jurisdiction over the disputed country. 
Before Arnold had time to enlist any men, he heard of 
Allen's design and at once joined him, claiming the 
command of the assembled force by virtue of his com- 
mission. The Green Mountain Boys, however, would 
have none of him. Choosing Allen for their leader, 
and being joined by some fifty Massachusetts men and 
a number of others from the adjoining country, under 
the redoubtable Seth Warner and Jonathan Easton, 
they determined upon the capture of the fort at Ticon- 
deroga. The unrecognized Arnold was fain to go 
along with them as a volunteer. 

On the night of May 6, 1775, the little band, amount- 
ing to about two hundred and fifty men, reached the 
lake opposite the fort. They found that but few boats 
could be collected and, even by using the greatest dili- 
gence, they were unable to get more than eighty-three 
men across the river before morning. What was to be 
done? If they waited for the rest to come over they 
would of course be discovered and all hope of a sur- 
prise would be lost. To many they seemed too few in 
numbers to do anything but retrace their steps and try 
it over some other time. It was a critical moment, but 
Allen was equal to it, he knew that other time would 
probably never come, it was then or never. He drew 
his men up in line and addressed them in the bom- 
bastic but effective style of which he was a master. 



Storm and Surprise 119 

He announced his intention of attacking the fort with- 
out waiting for the rest to join and concluded with 
these words : "It is a desperate attempt and I ask no 
man to go against his will. 1 will take the lead and be 
the first to advance. You who are willing to follow, 
poise your firelocks." Inspired by his words and exam- 
ple the men fairly threw their pieces in the air in their 
eagerness to be off. Guided by a country boy of the 
vicinity, they made their way through the woods, and in 
the gray of the morning climbed the hill silently and 
without noise. As they came creeping softly around 
the wall of the fort, they observed that the main gate 
was closed, but the wicket was open. Before the sleepy 
sentry at the sally-port had more than time to snap his 
musket, which missed fire, Allen and Arnold, who were 
in the lead, were upon him. He was knocked down, 
his piece was wrenched from him, and with loud cheers 
the Americans poured into the fort through the covered 
way. 

Another sentry inside made something of a fight, 
discharging his piece ineffectively and gallantly rush- 
ing forward to use the bayonet, when he was wounded 
and overpowered. By Allen's direction, his men drew 
themselves up in a hollow square in front of the bar- 
racks and the officers' quarters, facing out, and when 
the surprised British rushed out on the parade, 
they found themselves looking down a row of polished 
gun-barrels. Under threat of instant death, the cap- 
tured sentry pointed out the commandant's house, and 
Allen ran over and thundered against the door with the 
hilt of his sabre. "Come forth instantly," he shouted, 
"or I will sacrifice the whole garrison." Delaplace, 
who had been awakened by the confusion, at once 



I20 American Fights and Fighters 

opened the door. He was still in his night clothes and 
carried his trousers in his hand. Behind him appeared 
the white-capped face of his frightened wife. "Deliver 
me up the fort instantly," cried Allen. "By what au- 
thority do you ask?" asked the surprised and startled 
commander, who had not even heard that there was a 
revolution in the land. Allen's famous answer has 
rung through the years from that day to this and is 
enough to have gained him immortality. "In the name 
of the Great Jehovah and the Continental Congress!" 
he replied. Either of these adjurations was sufficient. 
Delaplace began to remonstrate, but was sternly si- 
lenced, and with Allen's sword at his throat he reluc- 
tantly gave up the post and ordered his men to be 
paraded without arms. 

Thus the fort, which had been so brilliantly de- 
fended by Montcalm, which had cost England eight 
million pounds sterling, a succession of desperate 
campaigns and many lives before she took it from 
the French, was captured in ten minutes by less 
than one hundred provincials and undisciplined vol- 
unteers, without the loss of a man ! At the same time, 
Seth Warner, another Green Mountain Boy, captured 
the fort at Crown Point while Arnold, with some 
other men, sailed down Lake Champlain and cap- 
tured St. Johns, and a third detachment took posses- 
sion of Skenesborough, at the foot of Lake George. 
Thus the whole country came into possession of the 
Americans. They secured over two hundred cannon 
and vast quantities of military stores, which were im- 
mediately forwarded to Washington's army, and with- 
out which, at that time, it would have been almost 
impossible to carry on the Revolution. 



Storm and Surprise 121 

II. STONY POINT 

While Washington and Clinton were warily watching 
each other about New York in 1779, the British com- 
mander amused himself by sending predatory forces 
in various directions to raid the country. The British 
some time before had captured Stony Point, a rocky 
peninsula commanding the Hudson, which extended 
into the water and was surrounded by it on three sides, 
connection with the mainland being only practicable at 
low tide by a causeway which led through a morass. 
The Americans had begun the erection of a fort on the 
point when it was captured by Clinton, and which he 
had completed. It was strongly garrisoned, provided 
with cannon, rifle-pits and two rows of abattis. Wash- 
ington determined to take the position ; first to let 
Clinton know that he was still to be reckoned with, and 
second, to effect the recall of some of the marauding ex- 
cursions. He selected to command the attack Brigadier- 
General Anthony W^ayne, one of his distinguished sub- 
ordinates. Wayne was a Pennsylvanian, a wealthy, 
cultivated gentleman, of fine military ability and the 
highest courage. He had various nicknames in the 
army and among the Indians, with whom he afterward 
fought, among which were "Black Snake," "Tornado," 
and "Dandy Wayne," — the last from his love of mili- 
tary finery. But the best kno\vn epithet and the one 
which has clung to him is that of "Mad Anthony," from 
his reckless and dare-devil courage; the name gives a 
false impression of his character, however, as none 
could be more cool and wary or provident and deter- 
mined than he, especially in his later years when he 
fought the Indians with such signal success. 



122 American Fights and Fighters 

When Washington asked him if he would accept the 
duty and storm Stony Point, he said tersely, "I'll storm 
Hell, General, if you will lay the plan !" The great com- 
mander-in-chief did lay the plan with the utmost care, 
even going so far as to have all the dogs for three miles 
in the vicinity of the fort privately killed to prevent 
them giving the alarm. "As most of the affairs of this 
kind are attempted in the early morning before day- 
break," he remarked, "at which hour a good comman- 
der is most alert, we will deliver this attack about 
midnight." Orders were sent to put in another cooper- 
ating force from West Point in case the attack succeed- 
ed. The light infantry, who were to make the attack, 
marched to within a mile of the fort without discovery 
on the night of the fifteenth of July. None of the mus- 
kets of the men were charged and orders were given 
to rely entirely upon the bayonet — this is the first time 
it was to be formally tried as a main dependence in the 
Continental army. The assaulting force, numbering 
about twelve hundred men, was divided into three col- 
umns, and a reserve of three hundred under General 
Muhlenberg, with Lee's light cavalry, were left on the 
shore. Wayne and his principal officers had carefully 
reconnoitered the fort to enable them to proceed under- 
standingly. About half after eleven at night the men 
were paraded and told the object of their expedition 
which, until then, had been kept profoundly secret. 
They were eager to make the attempt. 

Guided by a negro of the neighborhood, who had 
frequently sold fruit and vegetables to the garrison and 
who knew the countersign, they advanced quietly 
through the darkness in two main columns to attack 
right and left, with a smaller column in front. One 
hundred and fifty volunteers, commanded by Lieutenant 



Storm and Surprise 123 

Colonel Fleiiry and Major Posey, formed the van of the 
right column under Wayne himself, one hundred 
volunteers under Major Stewart, the van of the 
left column under Colonel Febiger ; in advance of each 
of these assaulting columns was a forlorn hope of 
twenty men each, led by Lieutenants Knox and Gib- 
bons, whose duty it was to remove the abattis. The 
negro guide was accompanied by two stout soldiers 
disguised as farmers. He gave the countersign to the 
first two sentinels they reached in succession, and while 
he held them in conversation, they were seized and 
gagged by the pseudo-farmers, without having been 
able to fire a gun. They found the causeway over- 
flowed when they reached it and were forced to wait 
until half after twelve until the water subsided, there- 
upon the charge was ordered. The British were at 
once called to arms. 

The Americans silently rushed upon the pickets 
in spite of their fire. The forlorn hopes threw 
aside the abattis, losing, in one instance, eighteen men 
out of the twenty, and the two columns dashed through 
the openings, brushing aside the inner guards, and 
under a heavy fire of grape from the cannon of the 
bastions, most of which overshot their mark, and a brisk 
musketry discharge, they sprang upon the walls of the 
fort shouting the countersign, "The fort is our own!" 
Colonel Fleury was the first man to leap over the 
ramparts, where he lowered the English flag with his 
own hands. At the inner row of abattis, Wayne was 
struck down by a musket shot which grazed his head. 
Thinking, in the confusion, that he had received his 
death wound, he cried feebly, "Carry me into the fort, 
and let me die at the head of the column." His aides 
picked him up and rushed forward with him until he 



124 American Fights and Fighters 

recovered himself. The two columns scaled the ram- 
parts at nearly the same time and met in the middle of 
the fort, before the garrison had entirely awakened 
or fully recovered from their surprise, whereupon the 
place was at once surrendered. The loss of the Ameri- 
cans was eighty-three killed and wounded ; that of the 
British ninety-two, and about five hundred prisoners. 
No inhumanity marked the capture and no surrendered 
man was put to the sword — there was no massacre 
and murder — according to the British practice on simi- 
lar occasions. At daybreak the guns of the fort were 
turned upon Fort Lafayette and the ships-of-war, and 
the latter at once cut their cables and dropped down the 
river. Through some blunder the supporting detach- 
ment, which was to come down from West Point, did 
not arrive in time and, when they did come, brought 
no ammunition for their siege guns. Fort Lafayette 
therefore held out. 

Clinton at once moved up the Fludson in force, hop- 
ing to tempt Washington from his strong defensive 
position, and get him to hazard a battle to hold Stony 
Point. Washington inspected the fort carefully, and 
finding that it would take at least fifteen hundred men to 
hold it properly, which he could ill spare, and as he had 
no wish to risk a battle on unfavorable terms, he de- 
termined to abandon the post, which he did on the 
eighteenth of July, after removing the cannon and 
stores and destroying the works ; taking away property 
to the value of one hundred and sixty thousand dollars, 
which had fallen into the hands of the victors. The 
storming of Stony Point was the most brilliant achieve- 
ment of the war. The Americans captured the position 
without firing a gun, relying entirely upon the use 
of the bayonet. Wayne gained the greatest credit for 
the courage and daring with which he carried out the 



Storm and Surprise 125 

plan of the commander-in-chief. When he heard the 
news of their evacuation, CHnton occupied the position 
after the American withdrawal, but he soon abandoned 
it as untenable ; he had previously recalled his maraud- 
ing parties and thereafter kept his army together in 
New York, well in hand, uncertain where he would be 
attacked again. 

III. PAULUS HOOK 

He was not left long in doubt, however, for the daring 
exploit of Wayne had kindled the imagination of an- 
other young soldier, equally hardy and bold. Richard 
Henry Lee, commanding the famous Virginia cavalry 
and known as "Light Horse Harry Lee," in one of his 
scouting expeditions, discovered that the British fort 
at Paulus Hook was negligently garrisoned by an 
over-confident enemy. Paulus Hook is a long, low 
point on the Jersey shore just opposite New York, 
stretching out into the Hudson and connected with the 
mainland by a sandy isthmus. It is almost an island 
in fact; for a creek, fordable in but two places, ren- 
dered the Hook difficult of access. Between the fort 
and the creek a deep trench had been cut across the 
isthmus, over which access to the post was to be had 
by a drawbridge and barred gate on the land side of 
the fort ; there was also a double row of abattis around 
the walls. The garrison amounted to about four hun- 
dred men. To take it was a smaller but much more 
desperate undertaking than the attempt on Stony Point, 
on account of the difficulties the attacking party would 
have, even if successful, in getting away, owing to the 
nearness of the enemy's main army in New York and 
vicinity. 

On the eighteenth of August, 1779, the expedition 



126 American Fights and Fighters 

started. Lee divided his forces, sending a portion of 
them in a different direction, under Captain Allan Mc- 
Lane, who was to join him before the fort, while he 
himself commanded the main attacking column. In 
the darkness of the night and through some misunder- 
standing, when Lee reached the Hook at midnight the 
others did not come up. The contingent of loyal Amer- 
icans, who ordinarily garrisoned the position, had been 
withdrawn, and some of the best of the Hessian merce- 
naries had supplanted them. Lee did not know this, 
but if he had it would have made no difference. 
The failure of McLane to arrive had seriously weakened 
his force, of course; but, as he said, he had come to at- 
tack, and if he could not take the fort with his party, 
they had at least enough men to get in it and die there. 
That is the kind of man Lee was. The watchword he 
gave was "Be firm." It was after three o'clock in the 
morning, on account of their very long wait for Mc- 
Lane, when he gave the word to advance. Although 
the tide was rising, the men plunged in boldly and 
struggled across the morass without a sound. They 
waded through the ditch and as they climbed up the 
bank they were discovered. The startled garrison 
sprang to arms and opened a hasty fire at once, but the 
"foot cavalry," the dismounted light horse, were too 
quick for them. They rushed into the works, clearing 
their way with the point of the bayonet. 

Twelve of the British were killed and wounded, and 
but five of the Americans. Sutherland, the commander 
of the post, with sixty of the Hessians threw himself 
into a small blockhouse on the left of the fort and 
opened a scattering fire which did no damage. The 
rest of the garrison, to the number of one hundred and 
fifty-nine, including three officers, were tumbled out of 



Storm and Surprise 127 

their quarters and captured before they had time to 
thoroughly awaken, and Lee, in accordance with the 
vStrict orders wliich he had received from Washington, 
abandoned the fort at once, without disturbing the men 
in the blockhouse or attempting to spike the guns. 
After some desperate adventures he reached Washing- 
ton's camp in safety with all his prisoners. As a bril- 
liant coup de main, it would be hard to surpass this 
enterprise ; it was like pulling the nose of the king on 
his throne in the very presence of his assembled court 
and getting away safely ; and it gave the British a very 
healthy regard indeed, in conjunction with the affair 
at Stony Point, for the American troops thereafter. 



SOME MINOR SEA-FIGHTS 
OF THE REVOLUTION 



I. BIDDLE AND THE RANDOLPH 

After John Paul Jones, the most daring naval officer 
of the Revolution was Captain Nicholas Biddle, a 
notable scion of the distinguished American family of 
that name. From his early youth he had followed the 
sea, experiencing in full measure the hardships and 
dangers, including several shipwrecks, of that arduous 
calling. On the occasion of a threatened outbreak be- 
tween England and Spain over the Falkland Islands, 
at his own request he had been appointed a midshipman 
in the British navy. When it was seen that there would 
be no war, moved by a spirit of adventure, he applied 
for and received a leave of absence, during which he 
shipped before the mast — as the orders were to take no 
midshipman or boys — in Captain Phipps' expedition 
to the North Pole. Another lad who had been actuated 
by the same spirit had done the same thing — his name 
was Horatio Nelson! The two boys, who became great 
friends, were both promoted to the rank of coxswain 
before their return and both gave promise of their sub- 
sequent ability. 

Of course Biddle was commissioned in the Conti- 
128 



Some Minor Sea-Fights 129 

nental navy at the outbreak of the Revolution, and in 
the early part of the war, while in command of the 
Andria Doria, a small vessel armed with four six-pound 
guns, he made a brilliantly successful cruise, capturing 
ten prizes in a short time, including two armed trans- 
ports carrying over four hundred soldiers ! When the 
Andria Doria reached port after this cruise she had but 
five of her original crew on board, the rest being dis- 
tributed on her various prizes. After this, in February, 
1777, he was given the command of the new thirty-two- 
gun frigate Randolph, just built by the Government, 
and at that time the best ship in the navy. He made 
two successful cruises in her off Charleston, taking 
many prizes, one of them a twenty-gun war vessel 
with a convoy of three valuable merchant ships, all of 
which he captured. He was a great favorite with the 
gallant South Carolinians while he was blockaded in 
Charleston Harbor for nearly a year, and they fitted 
out a State fleet of five small vessels which, under his 
command, set forth to seek the erstwhile blockading 
squadron of the enemy which had disappeared before 
they sailed. They were not successful in finding this 
squadron, however, although they captured several 
prizes while cruising to the southward. 

On March 7, 1778, a large sail was sighted off 
Martinique, some accounts say at five in the morn- 
ing, some at the same hour in the afternoon; the 
difference is not material however, for it was the action 
not the time that counted. The squadron made for the 
approaching vessel, but as the hours wore away she was 
discovered to be a large ship-of-the-line — the Yar- 
mouth, 64. Biddle now signalled to his squadron of 
small and lightly armed merchant vessels and prizes to 
make sail to escape. He then stood boldly down to- 



130 American Fights and Fighters 

ward the enemy, to cover their retreat. It was an act 
of the greatest hardihood and resolution for a small 
thirty-two-gun frigate to engage a heavily built ship- 
of-the-line with her massive scantling and frames. 
The difference in the number of guns on the two 
ships, two to one, does not by any means indicate the 
difference in effective force between them, which could 
be better expressed by the ratio of four or five to one, 
especially considering the greater size and weight of 
the liner's guns. It was like matching a bull terrier 
against a mastiff in a finish fight to pit these two ships 
against each other. 

Biddle was game for anything — no braver man ever 
trod a ship's deck than this young captain, just twenty- 
seven years of age — but although he was heroic, he 
was not foolish, as it would seem at first glance, for he 
knew what he intended to do and what was necessary. 
He intended to sacrifice his own ship in order to protect 
the State cruisers and the prizes under his command ! 
The odds against him were fearful, but the American 
navy has ever laughed at odds. So Biddle took his life 
in his hands and, supported by as stout-hearted and 
reckless a crew as ever hauled a sheet or passed an 
ear-ring, sailed boldly down on his huge antagonist. 
Heroes one and all ! At eight o'clock the two ships had 
drawn wnthin gunshot of each other when the Yar- 
mouth hailed and asked the name of the smaller vessel, 
and then demanded that she strike. 

"This is the American Continental ship Randolph," 
replied Biddle, gallantly, at the same time pouring in 
a broadside, which was at once returned with fearful 
effect b)'' the two-decker, as the ships were within pistol- 
shot distance. It has been surmised that Biddle desper- 
ately hoped to capture the Yarmouth by boarding, 



Some Minor Sea-Fights 131 

though what he could have done with three hundred 
men, if he had gained her decks, against six hundred 
of the EngHsh is difficult to see. However, during 
the whole of the action he endeavored to close — to 
get nearer the enemy was his instinctive desire, that 
is the kind of man he was! For forty minutes the 
action was kept up with the greatest spirit, the ships 
edging nearer together with every passing moment, 
until at last they came in contact. At the end of that 
time with a tremendous roar the Randolph blew up, 
probably a shot had reached her magazine, though we 
are certain of nothing except the fact of the explosion 
which tore her to pieces. 

The Yarmouth was hurled over on her beam ends 
and covered with burning timber, sails, spars, and 

, other debris and wreckage from the Randolph, in- 
cluding a small, tightly rolled up American flag. 
She had great difficulty in successfully fighting the 
flames and repairing her rigging and spars, which 
were much cut up by the fire of her puny and des- 

' perate antagonist, and her other casualties amounted 
to four killed and twelve wounded. When she was in 
condition to chase, the American ships were too far 
away to be overhauled by the weakened battleship, and 
they all escaped. Thus Biddle's heroic resolution had 
effected his purpose. Five days after the battle, the 
Yarmouth again cruising in the same vicinity, four 

I men, starving and exhausted, were picked up from a 
spar to which they had been clinging. They stated 

I that they belonged to the ill-fated Randolph, and they 

} were the only survivors of three hundred and fifteen 
officers and men who had gallantly fought her until she 
was destroyed. From them it was learned that Biddle 
had been severely wounded in the leg in the early part of 



132 American Fights and Fighters 

the action, but that he had refused to go below and had 
remained sitting in a chair on the deck encouraging his 
men and directing the fighting, while the surgeon 
dressed his wounds — a gallant picture of an heroic sea- 
man. Before he had sailed away on this cruise he 
wrote to his brother as follows : "I know not what 
may be our fate ; be it, however, what it may, you may 
rest assured it will never cause a blush in the cheeks 
of my friends or countrymen." And so Biddle was not 
only a sailor, but a prophet as well ; for no American 
fighter, in so short a career, ever gained more honor 
on the sea than he. 

II. NICHOLSON AND THE TRUMBULL 

Another American naval officer who had a distin- 
guished career was Captain John Nicholson. After the 
dismissal of Esek Hopkins he became the senior officer 
of the navy. On June 2, 1780, this officer, in command of 
the small twenty-eight-gun frigate TnimhuU, discovered 
a strange sail about four hundred miles east of Cape 
May. Captain Nicholson ran in his guns, closed his 
ports, set his sails carelessly, to give the impression 
that his ship was a clumsy merchantman, and throwing 
out drags to check his speed, succeeded in luring 
the stranger under his guns. When the character of the 
Trumbull was ascertained on closer approach, the 
stranger, a large armed ship, much greater in force 
than the Tnnnhull, made sail to escape, but was speed- 
ily overhauled by the more rapid American frigate 
which had meanwhile assumed her true character. 
Nicholson then immediately cleared for action. When 
within one hundred yards of each other, the two ships 
began a murderous and obstinate fight which lasted for 



Some Minor Sea-Fights 133 

three long hours. There appears to have been no 
manoeuvering to speak of on either side; and the two 
vessels, pouring into each other a rapid fire the while, 
sailed side by side, sometimes drifting so close to- 
gether that the yard-arms interlocked for the moment. 
Each ship in succession was set on fire by burning gun- 
wads, so near were they to each other. At the end 
of the fight, when the fire of the enemy had almost 
ceased, and Nicholson already considered the other 
ship his prize, the mainmast of the TntmhuU, which 
had been badly wounded, carried away, bringing with 
it spar after spar until only the foremast of the frigate 
was left standing. While the Americans were in this 
helpless condition, the enemy, who had received more 
than enough of it, made his escape; though, had he 
been in condition to continue the fight, he should 
easily have been able to compel the TruinhuU to strike. 
It was afterward learned that he was the British pri- 
vateer Watt of thirty-eight guns, mostly twelve-poun- 
ders, which had been especially fitted out to take an 
American frigate. 

The loss of the TruinhuU was thirty-nine killed and 
wounded, that of the Watt, ninety-two ! As she sailed 
away it was seen that she was terribly cut up and her 
main top-mast carried away; this loss was followed 
later by that of most of her other spars. Some days 
after the action, when his completely disabled ship was 
towed into the harbor of New York, the captain of 
the Watt was asked the name of his antagonist's com- 
mander ; his answer was, "It must have been Paul Jones 
or the devil. There never was a ship fought before 
with such frantic desperation." There was no question 
but that the Watt was a heavy overmatch for the Truin- 
huU, and in thus beating the English ship to a standstill. 



134 American Fights and Fighters 

and virtually winning the fight, Captain Nicholson had 
done a very gallant thing. Many of the American 
crew were green hands who had never been to sea be- 
fore and suffered from the debilitating illness incident 
thereto during the fight. With the exception of Jones' 
greatest battle, this is considered to have been the sever- 
est sea-fight of the Revolution. 

In the summer of 1781, the Trumbull, still under 
the command of stout old Nicholson, was convoying 
a fleet of merchantmen off the Capes of Delaware. She 
had a worse crew on than before. She was actually 
short nearly two hundred of her quota, the total num- 
ber of souls she carried being one hundred and twenty, 
when her proper complement should have been over 
three hundred. Of those she had, a large number were 
British seamen who had conceived the plan of mutiny- 
ing and capturing her, influenced by the heavy rewards 
offered by the British Admiralty for such actions. 
Captain Nicholson had as his lieutenants, however, 
three men who were worth a ship's company ; they were 
Alexander Murray, afterward highly distinguished, 
Richard Dale, who had fought on the Bonhomme 
Richard with such conspicuous devotion and courage, 
and Christopher Raymond Perry, the father of the 
subsequently famous Oliver Hazard Perry. The little 
squadron had been chased by three British cruisers and 
the merchantmen had put back and escaped, though the 
Triunhnll continued at sea, desirous of getting a fight 
out of the pursuers, could they be separated. During the 
chase they all ran into a heavy gale which scattered the 
British ships and in which the Trumbull unluckily 
lost her foretopmast and main topgallant-mast late in 
the evening. About ten o'clock on the night of the 



Some Minor Sea-Fights 135 

eighth of August, two of the ships which had formerly 
chased her again overhauled the American. 

The British thirty-two-gun frigate Iris came down 
on tlie starboard side, another vessel ranged alongside 
on the port quarter, and they both opened fire. The 
weather was rainy and squally with the sea run- 
ning high; the Truinbull was still encumbered with 
wreckage, which had not been entirely cleared away on 
account of her being undermanned. Almost any offi- 
cer would have struck at once, but Nicholson was not 
made that way. At the first fire of the enemy, the Eng- 
lishmen on the TriunbuU, having no interest in the 
fight, ran below, where their withdrawal so aiffected a 
large number of the green crew that they also deserted 
their stations and fled below in great terror. Nichol- 
son had less than fifty officers and men left to work the 
crippled ship, clear away the wreck, and fight the 
enemy — but those left, like Gideon's three hundred, 
were of the very best. He did not think of surrendering 
even then, and for more than an hour they actually 
kept up a desperate and hopeless battle, the captain 
and officers serving the guns with their own hands. 
Finally when nearly forty per cent, of the little band 
had been killed or wounded, a third English ship came 
up and took position across the stern of the helpless 
Truinbull and prepared to rake. TheTrunibull had only 
one mast left standing, her gun-ports had been beaten 
in, many guns dismounted, and Lieutenant Murray 
was badly wounded ; to fight longer was to be murdered 
at their stations or to sink alongside; there was nothing 
more to gain, and Nicholson reluctantly struck the flag 
he had so gallantly defended. With less than fifty men, 
on a wrecked ship, he had fought nearly a thousand 



136 American Fights and Fighters 

men in three ships, two of which were larger than his 
own. This was certainly as honorable and singular 
an action as was ever fought upon the seas, it reminds 
one of Sir Richard Grenville's heroic defense of the 
Revenge. The Iris was much cut up and reported seven 
killed and wounded, the loss on the other ships was 
never ascertained. 



III. BARNEY AND THE HTDER ALLY 

The only naval officer of the Revolution who survived 
to bear a successful part in the War of 181 2 was Joshua 
Barney. He had served with credit on a number of 
small cruisers and private armed vessels, and had been 
commissioned a lieutenant in the navy when in the year 
1782 he was placed in command of the Hyder Ally, a 
converted merchantman owned by the State of Penn- 
sylvania, and armed with sixteen six-pounders. She 
was to be used to convoy merchant ships between 
Philadelphia and the Capes of the Delaware. On the 
eighth of April, in the same year, in company with a 
large fleet of some forty merchantmen she dropped 
down to Cape May Roads. While they were waiting for 
a favorable slant of wind to get to sea, three English 
cruisers were seen coming in past the Capes, which at 
once made for the merchant vessels. In obedience to 
Barney's signals to fly, all but one of the convoy made 
sail up the bay. That disobedient one attempted to get 
to sea on her own account, struck on a shoal and was 
captured. Barney leisurely followed the fleeing mer- 
chantmen, hugging the shore the while, which his light- 
er draft permitted, in order to cover their retreat. 

The first of the English chasing ships edged in to- 



Some Minor Sea-Fights 137 

ward the Hydcr Ally and exchanged broadsides with 
her. Finding her rather heavier than she thought, she 
made off, continuing in her efforts to overhaul the 
fleeing convoy. She was a smaller ship than Barney's, 
so he made no effort to chase and coolly waited for 
larger game. The third English ship, the frigate 
Quebec, had been forced to make a wide detour and 
could not come within gunshot of the American on ac- 
count of the shoal water ; but the second, a twenty-gun 
sloop-of-war, called the General Monk, dashed boldly 
at her, expecting an easy prey. Barney had instructed 
his quartermaster at the wheel to do the very opposite 
thing that he commanded, thus if he ordered the helm 
to starboard, it was to be put to larboard, and so on. 
As the English ship drew near, Barney loudly gave a 
number of orders which, if they had been carried out, 
would have resulted in laying his ship parallel to 
that of the enemy. As the Englishman made his prep- 
arations for the expected manceuver, he was aston- 
ished to see the Hyder Ally, after exchanging a fierce 
broadside with him, swing in toward him and cross 
his bow, before he could prevent it. He was raked at 
once and as the two ships came together, his jib-boom 
was thrust across the American's deck, when it was at 
once securely lashed to the main-shrouds by Barney's 
own hands. 

As the English ship swung partially around on the 
quarter of the Hydcr Ally, some of her guns bore so 
that she was not completely helpless. The Americans 
now delivered the fire of their battery with unexam- 
pled rapidity, discharging not less than twenty broad- 
sides in twenty-six minutes, the English reply grow- 
ing more feeble after each broadside. The General 
Monk was terribly smashed up fore and aft, losing fif- 



138 American Fights and Fighters 

ty-three out of her crew of one hundred and thirty-six, 
or forty per cent., and in thirty minutes she struck her 
flag! The EngHsh ship carried twenty nine-pounders 
throwing ninety pounds to the broadside, as against 
Barney's sixteen six-pounders throwing forty-eight! 
Throwing a prize-crew on board, not even taking 
time to ascertain the name of the ship he had captured, 
the Hydcr Ally and the prize at once made sail up the 
bay, and though hotly pursued by the British frigate 
when they reached deep water, the other armed vessel 
keeping considerately out of way, they succeeded in 
effecting their escape. 

The comment of J. Fenimore Cooper on this tidy 
little fight is as follows: "This action has been justly 
deemed one of the most brilliant that ever occurred 
under the American flag. It was fought in the pres- 
ence of a vastly superior force that was not engaged; 
and the ship taken was, in every essential respect, su- 
perior to her conqueror. The disproportion in metal 
between a six-pounder and a nine-pounder, is one half; 
and the Monk, besides being a heavier and larger ship, 
had the most men." 

The General Monk had been originally an American 
armed ship called the General Washington. She 
was restored to the service under her old name and 
Barney made several successful cruises in her. In the 
War of 1 81 2, after making some brilliant and success- 
ful privateering cruises. Commodore Barney command- 
ed the gunboat flotilla in the Chesapeake and on the 
Potomac, in which he fought several courageous ac- 
tions against superior force. At the disastrous land 
battle of Bladensburg, which preceded the capture of 
Washington, when the American militia were routed 
by the British regulars, Barney and five hundred of his 
seamen, who manned a battery posted on a little hill 



Some Minor Sea-Fights 139 

in the American lines, almost redeemed the disgrace 
to our arms by the desperate courage with which they 
fought their guns and repulsed the enemy, until the 
commodore himself was seriously wounded, many of 
his men killed, and the little force surrounded by over- 
whelming numbers, when they reluctantly surrendered. 
Barney died in 1818, after nearly forty years of con- 
spicuous and daring naval service. 



IV. BARRY AND THE ALLIANCE 

After Jones and Biddle the most eminent of the Amer- 
ican naval commanders in the Revolution was John 
Barry, a native of Ireland, who came to America in 
early youth and followed the sea for a livelihood. He 
was the first regularly commissioned officer of the navy 
to get to sea as a lieutenant in command of the small 
armed brig Lexington, sixteen guns and seventy-five 
men. On April 16, 1775, he fell in with the armed 
tender Edzvard, eight guns and thirty-five men. After 
a spirited action of an hour in which the Edward was 
cut to pieces and lost a large portion of her crew she 
was captured. For this service Barry was made a cap- 
tain and given command of the Effingliam, 28. In 
the summer of 1777 she was blockaded in the Delaware 
by the British expedition under Howe, but the gallant 
Barry, pining under his enforced inaction, planned a 
cutting out expedition, and with four boats captured 
a ten-gun schooner-of-war without the loss of a man. 
In the face of superior force he burned the schooner 
and retreated safely. 

He was next given command of the frigate Raleigh, 
32. In this vessel he was chased off the New England 
coast for several days, in 1778, by two ships, the Uni- 



140 American Fights and Fighters 

corn, 28, and the Experiment, 50. Barry manoeuvered 
his vessel brilHantly but was unable to escape. The 
Unicorn succeeded in closing with him and a spirited 
action ensued. The Raleigh was much cut up, but the 
Unicorn was beaten and would have been captured by 
boarding, had it not been for the advent of the Experi- 
ment. Under a heavy fire from both ships, which he 
returned with spirit, Barry ran the Raleigh ashore, in- 
tending to burn her. While he was on shore, however, 
superintending the erection of a battery and making 
preparations to land the crew, the Raleigh was sur- 
rendered by one of her ofificers. She lost twenty-five 
in killed and wounded, while the Unicorn had lost ten 
killed and many wounded. Barry gained much credit 
for his determined and gallant resistance to vastly su- 
perior force. 

In 1 78 1 he was given the command of the Alliance, 
32, the best frigate in the American navy. After taking 
Laurens to France, he sailed on a cruise in English 
waters in company with the Lafayette, a. French letter- 
of-marque. On April third, the two ships made prizes 
of the twenty-six-gun privateer Mars, and the ten-gun 
privateer Minerva. Leaving the prizes to the care of 
the Frenchman, the Alliance continued her cruise alone 
with much success, taking many merchant ships. On 
May twenty-eighth, two sail were discovered. The 
wind, which had been very light, entirely died away and 
left the Alliance becalmed. A little breeze still re- 
mained with the strangers, however, and aided by large 
sweeps, they succeeded in taking up positions on both 
quarters of the frigate, where they commenced action. 
For over an hour they poured their broadsides into the 
American ship, which only had three nine-pounders 
she could bring to bear to return the attack of an 



Some Minor Sea-Fights 141 

eighteen-gun brig and a fourteen-gun brig. The un- 
fortunate Alliance lay like a log in the still water and 
was an easy mark for her antagonists, who were calmly 
pounding her to pieces at their leisure. After an hour's 
combat, just as Barry, who had been severely wounded 
by grape shot, was being carried below and the Ameri- 
can flag had been shot away, a little breeze sprang up 
which filled the.sails of the frigate. The British think- 
ing the Alliance had surrendered had left their guns 
and were cheering gaily — they were soon undeceived. 
As the American swung around, her heavy batteries 
came into play. Sailing down between the two ships, 
delivering her fire right and left, she soon forced them 
to strike. They proved to be the brigs-of-war Atalanta 
and Trcpassy. The English loss was twenty-one killed 
and thirty wounded ; the American, eleven killed and 
two wounded. 

Still in command of the Alliance, in 1782, Barry 
fought the last action of the war. Coming out of 
Havana carrying specie, he was chased by three British 
frigates. As the day wore away, a French fifty-gun 
ship appeared on the horizon, whereupon, supposing 
he would be supported by her, the brave Barry imme- 
diately went about and stood for the nearest English 
frigate. The other two frigates manoeuvered about the 
Frenchman without coming into action with her. 
Meanwhile the Alliance was hotly engaged with her 
enemy, which proved to be the Sibyllc, 38, a slightly 
superior ship to the Alliance. After an hour's conflict 
the two English ships, in obedience to a signal of dis- 
tress from the Sibyl le, abandoned their projected attack 
upon the French fifty-gun ship and made for Barry, 
who was forced to haul off without taking possession 
of his beaten enemy. The Sibylle was a wreck. She 



142 American Fights and Fighters 

had lost eighty-seven killed and wounded, while the loss 
of the Alliance was only three killed and eleven wound- 
ed. Barry had spurned several attempts which the 
British made to bribe him to renounce his allegiance. 
One offer is said to have amounted to fifteen thousand 
pounds and the command of the best frigate in the 
British navy. He lived to become the head of 
the American navy and performed good service in the 
w^ar with France. He died full of honors in 1803. 



YORKTOWN 



The drums were beating a parley. An alert officer in 
an American battery heard a faint tap-tap-tapping 
above the roar of the cannonade; at his word the bat- 
tery he commanded ceased its discharge; the drum 
taps were heard more plainly, rolling, rattling with 
ever increasing volume. Presently other ears caught 
the welcome sound and gun after gun became curiously 
silent. The tremendous roar which for the past week 
had filled the air gradually diminished in volume until 
a stillness like death supervened. As the smoke blew 
away from the muzzles of the silent guns the soldiers 
came running from their tents on the hills back of the 
batteries ; the long roll of the drums was plainly audible 
now ; rap-a-tap-tap-tap, rap-a-tap-tap-tap — what was it ? 

With hopes high they listened. There were trained 
ears there and they recognized the cadence; yes, they 
were beating a parley, and there, above the battered 
embrasures, rose a white flag in the clear morning. 
It was a surrender then ! The great fleet of De Grasse 
down in Lynn Haven Bay actually heard the wild 
cheering which rose from the throats of the excited 
men. The war was over ! They were free ! 

When the noise had partially died away, two scarlet- 
Mi 



144 American Fights and Fighters 

coated horsemen could be seen under a flag of truce, 
advancing from the British works: — the cheering rose 
in vohmie until it might have drov^^ned the cannonade ! 
Instantly all was commotion in the staff of the great 
general, who calmly sat his white horse keenly over- 
looking the scene and apparently unmoved by the 
wild tumult of joy about him — only apparently, how- 
ever, for his heart beat as madly as that of the youngest 
blade in the army; it meant so much to him and so 
much more to his country, these beating drums with 
their message of submission. By his orders, two 
young officers, one a Frenchman, the other an Ameri- 
can, separated themselves from the cortege surround- 
ing Washington and Rochambeau, and galloped rapid- 
ly forward to meet the new-comers. There was a sweet 
interchange of courtesy between the lines, a little col- 
loquy, and then with military salutes each group 
returned to its entrenchments; on one side "the robings 
of glory" on the other, "the gloom of defeat !" As the 
Americans rode through their line, though they spoke 
no word until they reached their general, they wore 
that in their faces which gave the dullest soldier 
official confirmation of what had not been doubted. 
Cornwallis wished — or rather he did not wish, but was 
forced — to surrender ! 

We left him, after his disastrous victory at Guilford, 
slowly making his way to the seaboard, having been 
shouldered out of North Carolina by Greene's strategy 
and determination. When he reached Wilmington he 
found no transports nor vessels of war and, in great 
perplexity, he decided to march into Virginia. To go 
back to Charleston would involve a tremendous journey 
through the country swarming with Greene's partizans, 
and besides it would be tantamount to a confession 



Yorktown 145 

of defeat, for that had been his point of departure. 
There was a large British force already in Virginia, 
which was distant only a few hundred miles, under 
the command of Phillips, whom we saw at Saratoga, 
and the traitor Arnold. He might get there easily 
enough and combine his little force, now less than two 
thousand men, with the troops of Phillips and, in a 
whirlwind campaign, overthrow the great State of Vir- 
ginia. A brilliant stroke or two would also serve to 
redeem his reputation as a strategist, which was some- 
what dimmed in the light of Greene's superb cam- 
paigning, though no man ever could or did question his 
character as a skilful fighter and a man of courage. 

Arnold and Phillips were opposed by a few Conti- 
nentals detached by Washington and some militia 
under Lafayette and Steuben. Cornwallis despised 
the Frenchman; "The boy cannot escape me," he ex- 
claimed, when he took command. The famous mar- 
quis was only twenty-three years old at the time, yet 
neither of the veteran British generals had ever suc- 
ceeded in bringing him to an engagement, and Cornwal- 
lis found it equally impossible. He hovered on their 
flanks, cutting off light parties, and rendering foraging 
unprofitable and kept his little army together which 
was about all any one could expect of him. When 
Cornwallis effected a junction with the English troops 
in Virginia, to the great joy of all the subordinate 
English officers, he displaced Arnold, who had succeed- 
ed to the command on the death of Phillips from illness; 
and "allowed" him to return to New York on the plea 
of urgent business — for the gallant soldier and noble- 
man never could stomach a traitor. It was a lucky 
thing for Arnold in the end that he received this per- 
mission, and a lucky thing, perhaps, in the end for the 



146 American Fights and Fighters 

Americans, for had they captured him they would 
certainly have hanged him, and perhaps it was better 
to let him live out his life and die as he did, than to 
offer him even the poor expiation of the gallows for 
his ineffable treachery. 

The indefatigable Tarleton had recovered somewhat 
from his defeat at the Cowpens, and in command of 
a new legion of cavalry, mounted on the swift horses 
for which Virginia was famous, ravaged the country 
far and wide; at one time capturing the Legislature 
and being within twenty minutes of taking the coveted 
person of Thomas Jeft'erson himself. The marauders 
did much damage and destroyed great quantities of 
private property, but in the end effected little — to ma- 
raud is not to wage war, it makes mad people madder, 
that is all ! Washington now sent Wayne to reinforce 
Lafayette with the veteran Pennsylvania Continental 
line. Cornwallis then moved back toward the coast; 
not retreating, for he was under no necessity whatever 
of doing so, but because he was desirous of establish- 
ing a strong base on the Chesapeake, and opening 
communications with his commander-in-chief, Sir Hen- 
ry Clinton, at New York. 

Lafayette followed closely and actually attacked the 
British rear at Williamsburg. Wayne, in command of 
the advance, was partially ambushed and found him- 
self with about nine hundred light infantry in the pres- 
ence of the British rear-guard of about two thousand 
men, having a further advantage in their position. To 
retreat was to be destroyed. The situation was one 
in which Wayne gloried. He immediately attacked 
with such spirit that the British imagined he was sup- 
ported by the whole army and, though they drove him 
off after a stubborn combat, in which each side lost 



Yorktown 147 

about one hundred and fifty men, they made no attempt 
to pursue — which was lucky for Wayne! CornwaUis 
finally reached Yorktown on the Chesapeake, at which 
point he had ordered the garrison at Portsmouth to 
assemble and where he threw up strong fortifications, 
unwittingly digging in the place the grave of his hopes. 
Lafayette moved down with his little army to Malvern 
Hill, a good position to retreat from if attacked, or to 
attack from if the enemy attempted to cross the James. 
The Frenchman had displayed great tact and ability 
in his conduct of this campaign; he was too feeble in 
force, he wrote to Washington, even to be beaten, and 
more afraid of his own impetuosity than of the enemy ! 
Secure in his forts, CornwaUis was actually so little 
aware of the thunderbolt which was about to be 
launched upon him and of the imminent peril of his 
situation, that he offered to send some of his force to 
Clinton whom he imagined to be hard pressed by 
Washington at New York. 

But in the mind of that prescient commander a great 
campaign had been evolved. By the strenuous efforts 
of the French Minister of Marine, a splendid fleet of 
twenty-eight sail-of-the-line and six frigates had sailed 
from France to the West Indies under the command of 
the Comte de Grasse, their most efficient admiral — 
supposed — and the command of the sea passed from the 
British on account of this French preponderance of 
force; only for a time, however, but long enough for 
Washington. The great American realized that if he 
could make a combination between the sea forces of 
De Grasse and the land forces under his command, the 
result would be finally disastrous for the British. His 
mind at first had determined upon New York as the 
point for the combined attack, but he easily accepted 



148 American Fights and Fighters 

the turn of the situation given by the assemblage of the 
large army under Cornwallis in Virginia. As soon as 
he learned of the earl's arrival, he had outlined his plan 
to Rochambeau, and they had jointly written a letter 
which he despatched toDe Grasse by a fast ship, implor- 
ing him to meet them in the Chesapeake as soon as pos- 
sible; which he at once promised to do. On August 
14, 1 78 1, Washington received his reply, stating that 
he had started with his whole fleet for the bay. 

The Continentals were cantoned on the Hudson, the 
Frenchmen in Rhode Island and Connecticut; at New- 
port there was a squadron under De Barras, who was 
the senior in rank to De Grasse but generously agreed 
to serve under him in the campaign, at the solicitation 
of Washington and Rochambeau, and he at once 
made ready to sail for the Chesapeake to join the 
French fleet; while Washington prepared to hurl his 
army a distance of four hundred miles, presenting his 
flank en route to an enemy strongly posted at New 
York, in an effort to capture Cornwallis and his army. 
It was a strategic conception of surpassing boldness 
and, if there were nothing else, would stamp Washing- 
ton as a strategist of the first order ; the only other simi- 
lar military achievement which compares with it was 
the famous manceuver of Napoleon, when he threw his 
army from the channel seaboard into Bavaria in the 
Ulm campaign. W^ashington communicated his plan 
absolutely to no one but Rochambeau; not an officer 
in the army, not even those of the highest rank, had the 
slightest idea of what he intended to do. It was one of 
the best kept secrets of military history. It was a 
maxim with Washington that it was impossible to de- 
ceive an enemy by manoeuvers unless his own force was 
deceived at the same time. He therefore caused en- 



Yorktown 



149 



trenchments to be laid out in the Jerseys below New 
York; bake-ovens and quarters to be built as if for 
an extended stay; and gave out everywhere that he 
intended to move his army to the southward and from 
that point effect the dislodgement of Sir Henry Clinton 
via Staten Island. 

On the nineteenth of August the troops began to 
cross the Hudson River. Washington left a large 
force strongly fortified on the Hudson under General 
Heath and took with him two thousand of his best 
Continentals and about four thousand Frenchmen. 
The army marched in extended order with the greatest 
rapidity. Everybody, including the English them- 
selves, felt certain that Washington was about to be- 
gin a campaign against New York, and Sir Henry 
Clinton, watching the long dusty ranks defiling before 
his works on the other side of the river, made every 
preparation for a determined resistance, concentrating 
his troops and strengthening his works and recalling 
all his detachments, which left him more in the dark 
than ever. It was not until the advance reached New 
Brunswick and the men found they were still headed for 
the south, that an idea where they were going began to 
dawn in the minds of the soldiers and officers. When 
they reached Philadelphia on the second of September, 
it was a secret no longer. "Long live Washington," 
was the toast of the day. "He is gone to catch Corn- 
wallis in his mouse-trap!" 

The Americans led the march and passed through 
the capital to the music of fife and drum at quick time. 
In their ragged uniforms and covered with the dust of 
the march, those old Continentals made a strange 
sight, but the spectators looked from the great general 
riding at the head of his staff to the army following 



150 American Fights and Fighters 

rapidly after, and noted the long, swinging step, the dis- 
ciplined easy carriage, the polished gun-barrels and 
gleaming bayonets, and felt that the rags could not hide 
the quality of the soldiery. The patriotic women of 
the city, matrons and maids, showered flowers and 
cheers upon their countrymen and under the influence 
of their bright smiles with hearts growing lighter as 
each step brought them nearer their goal, they marched 
away. They were followed the next day by the French 
contingent. The latter had lost time and distance, 
caused by a halt outside of the town to brush the dust 
from their uniforms and equipments and put on their 
bravest attire. A very different showing they made as 
they marched down Chestnut Street past the State House 
where they were reviewed by Congress; regiments 
with old world names which spoke of the glory and 
power of France, Rochambeau and his brilliant staff 
in the lead, their uniforms of gold and white sparkling 
in the sun ; but they were men, too ; they had shown it in 
the past, they were to show it then ; aye, and in the 
future as well. Among the aides of the French com- 
mander was one Berthier, whom history saw later as 
a Marshal of France under the great Napoleon ! 

When the eager Washington — ever in the lead — 
reached Chester, he received the news that the combi- 
nation was a success, and that De Grasse had entered 
the Chesapeake on the thirty-first of August ! A cloud, 
like the famous man's hand, had arisen above Cornwal- 
lis' horizon with the entrance of those ships in the bay, 
but as he never dreamed but that the British would 
brush them away presently, he remained reasonably 
confident still — and there was no Elijah in his camp to 
read the future for him. Washington was so delighted 
with the news that he rode back to Philadelphia and in- 



Yorktown 151 

formed Congress and Rochambeau. Cornwallis might 
have broken through the thin ranks of Lafayette, but 
where woukl he have gone afterward ? North into the 
hands of Washington; or south, into the arms of 
Greene? He had had enough of both of these generals, 
so he concluded to await the arrival of the British fleet, 
still unconscious of the storm cloud looming up very- 
black now on every side of the horizon. When the 
armies reached the head of the Chesapeake Bay on the 
fifth of September, they found transports had assem- 
bled, upon which they were embarked and taken down 
the bay. Meanwhile De Grasse had landed three thou- 
sand troops under St. Simon and on the eighth of Sep- 
tember, while Eutaw Springs was being fought in the 
Carolinas, by Lafayette's command the allied armies 
moved down and took a position squarely across the 
peninsula in front of Yorktown. Cornwallis was 
'"corked," like another later commander, "in a bottle;" 
and the cork was pressed down, driven in. 

Washington stopped for two days at his beloved 
Mount Vernon, which he had not seen for six years, en- 
tertaining Rochambeau and the French officers with old 
time Virginia hospitality, while his army swept down 
the Chesapeake. On the fourteenth of September he 
arrived at the camp and took command ; by the twenty- 
sixth of September the whole of his army had joined 
forces with Lafayette and St. Simon, and on the sixth 
of October Cornwallis withdrew into his fortifications 
and the investment began. There were about seven 
thousand Frenchmen, five thousand five hundred Con- 
tinentals, and three thousand five hundred militia under 
Governor Nelson in Washington's army. The first 
parallel was opened within six hundred yards of the 
British works on the same night by General Lincoln ; it 



152 American Fights and Fighters 

was completed in three days, batteries were mounted 
and, with his own hand, Washington fired the first 
gun. 

Before ah this had happened, however, Admiral 
Graves, who commanded the British fleet at New York, 
having been reinforced by a squadron sent him by Sir 
Samuel Hood, had sailed down the coast with twenty 
ships-of-the-line to dispute the control of the sea with 
De Grasse. Although a large number of French seamen 
were absent with the vessels transporting the Amer- 
ican army down the bay, and De Barras had not yet 
joined them with his squadron, De Grasse immediately 
put to sea on the fifth of September with twenty-four 
ships, leaving the rest to continue the blockade. The 
two fleets manoeuvered for four days, the French skil- 
fully keeping the weather-gage, and an indecisive action 
was fought on the seventh of September in which the 
British, fewer in numbers, sustained considerably more 
damage than the French, losing one ship-of-the-line 
and many killed. The two admirals learned at the 
same time that De Barras had entered the Chesapeake 
and Graves, now greatly inferior in force and disheart- 
ened by his repulses, went back to New York and De 
Grasse returned to the Chesapeake. It was substan- 
tially a victory for the French, but it was a good thing 
for De Grasse, and it was a good thing for the Ameri- 
ican Revolution, too, that Rodney was sick in England 
and not in Graves' place. Sir Henry Clinton found 
means to communicate with Cornwallis on the return 
of Graves, and informed him that the British sea power 
would soon be augmented by the arrival of another 
squadron and that he would sail for his relief as soon 
as possible. Cornwallis replied that he was entirely 
confident of holding out as long as necessary. That 
was before Washington's arrival. 




-5 > 



Yorktown 153 

To return to the siege, the cannonading was kept up 
from an ever increasing number of guns with the ut- 
most fury. At first there had been much skirmishing 
between Tarleton's Legion and the French Hussars, 
under the Due de Lauzun, without decisive resuhs ; 
though there were individual encounters on both sides 
in which great personal gallantry was displayed. On 
the night of the eleventh of October the second parallel 
was opened within three hundred yards of the British 
works. Unfortunately for this parallel, however, the 
British had two redoubts on the river side which en- 
filaded the works and rendered them untenable. Wash- 
ington determined to carry them by storm. The one 
nearest the river was allotted to the Americans and the 
one further inland, larger and more formidable, was 
claimed by the French. Two storming parties, the 
Americans under the command of Alexander Hamilton, 
and the French under the leadership of the Baron de 
Viomenil, were detailed to make the attempt. At eight 
o'clock on the evening of the fourteenth, when it was 
quite dark, the attacks were delivered. 

The Americans, without waiting for the pioneers to 
clear the way, rushed impetuously up to the abattis and 
tore it apart with their hands, the little Flamilton, using 
a soldier's back as a stepping-stone, sprang into the 
fort sword in hand, followed by his men. There was 
a sharp conflict in the redoubt and the British, sur- 
rounded and outnumbered, threw down their arms 
and surrendered. The guns of the redoubt were at once 
swung to the inside and added their death-dealing 
missives to the American cannonade which was going 
on furiously at the time. Hamilton immediately des- 
patched an aide to the Baron de Viomenil to inform 
him of his success. The French had waited to deliver 
their attack while their pioneers cut down the abattis, 



154 American Fights and Fighters 

according to rule. Hamilton's aide found the French 
chafing in impatience under a hot fire from the fort, 
which was inflicting considerable loss. When the 
Baron de Viomenil was informed that the Americans 
had captured their fort, he sent the officer back to tell 
Hamilton that he was not yet in his, but would be, in 
five minutes. 

The Gatinois grenadiers had the honor of leading 
the French advance. They had formerly belonged to 
the old Auvergne regiment which had been once com- 
manded by Rochambeau himself, and which, for its 
heroic gallantry on many fields, had been known as 
Auvergne sans tache. When Rochambeau had ad- 
dressed them before the attack they had promised 
everything if he would get their old name restored to 
them. By their heroic conduct in this action they ob- 
tained their desire, and were henceforward known as 
the Royal Auvergne. As soon as the abattis was bro- 
ken down, the Frenchmen with resistless valor rushed 
into the fort, effecting its capture in short order. Wash- 
ington had ridden into the parallel nearest the British 
batteries and a member of his staff, in great anxiety 
lest his commander-in-chief's life should be sacrificed 
thus uselessly, ventured to suggest that it would be 
safer to retire as the place was much exposed. 'Tf 
you think so, sir," said Washington, with unusual 
sharpness, "you are at liberty to step back." The next 
moment the cannon by which Washington was stand- 
ing was struck. As his officers sprang to his side, 
fearful lest he had been wounded, General Knox 
grasped his arm exclaiming, "My dear general, we 
can't spare you yet." "It is a spent bullet and no harm 
is done," he replied. I have no doubt that he would 
have given his rank itself for the mere soldier's privi- 



Yorktown 155 

lege of leading the advance of either of these storming 
parties, for that was the kind of soldier Washington 
was. He was, above all things, a fighter from be- 
ginning to end. Presently his practised eye saw that 
both assaults had been delivered successfully and the 
works were in possession of his troops. "The work 
is done and well done!" he remarked triumphantly, 
turning away. 

The cannonade was now resumed from the new par- 
allel with renewed vigor. Governor Nelson, who had 
lived in Yorktown, on being asked what were the best 
points at which to direct a fire, pointed out his own 
house which, as it was the largest in the place, was most 
likely to be the headquarters of Cornwallis, which was 
afterward ascertained to be a fact. One pleasing lit- 
tle incident which places Cornwallis in an agreeable 
light is this. Governor Nelson had a brother living in 
Yorktown, a very old man, who had been secretary of 
the colony under the crown for over thirty years and 
was habitually called "Mr. Secretary Nelson." The 
secretary had two sons who served in Washington's 
army and they besought him, if possible, to secure the 
enlargement of their father. Washington wrote a per- 
sonal letter to Cornwallis requesting that "Mr. Secre- 
tary Nelson" be allowed to leave the city. The gener- 
ous Englishman granted permission at once, and the 
boys had the satisfaction of not being compelled to fire 
upon the abiding place of their father. 

The night after the capture of the redoubts, Corn- 
wallis, whose men were being cut up by the heavy 
bombardment, whose headquarters were made untena- 
ble from the same cause, whose provisions were giving 
out, and whose ammunition was almost exhausted, 
determined upon a sortie. A heavy column under 



156 American Fights and Fighters 

Lieutenant-Colonel Abercrombie made a gallant attack 
upon the American works. It was partially successful, 
though they had not time more than hastily to spike one 
or two of the guns, when they were dislodged by the re- 
turn attack of the Americans and forced to retreat with 
considerable loss in killed, wounded and prisoners. 
The spikes were easily drawn from the guns and they 
recommenced their useful service. 

The situation of the earl was now desperate; al- 
though he received word that Sir Henry Clinton was 
about to sail with seven thousand men and a large fleet 
of twenty-five ships-of-the-line, and two fifty-gun frig- 
ates, he could hold out no longer. Word was brought 
to De Grasse of this at the same time and he immediate- 
ly determined to abandon the siege and get to sea, in 
order to be prepared to run away or fight as circum- 
stances would permit. It was only by the strongest 
pleas and representations from Washington, Rocham- 
beau and Lafayette that he was induced to reconsider 
his purpose and remain for a few days longer; so his 
ships moved down to Lynn Haven Bay and were kept 
in readiness for constant action. Yorktown had been 
almost destroyed by the cannonading, many of the 
British ships and boats in the harbor were set on fire 
and burned, including the Charon, a forty-four-gun 
frigate. 

Cornwallis, in his desperation, determined to pass 
over to Gloucester point, opposite Yorktown, across the 
river, where he had a fortified post, assemble his forces 
there and break through the small American force 
opposing and get away. It was a foolhardy plan at 
best, but any hope he might have entertained of carry- 
ing it out was frustrated after he had succeeded in get- 
ting one brigade across, by a violent storm which arose 



Yorktown 157 

during the night, wrecking and scattering his boats so 
that it was with the greatest difficulty he managed to 
get that brigade back to his army in the morning. On 
the seventeenth of October he determined to surrender. 
There was nothing left for him to do with his defeated 
and exhausted troops; he could not escape by with- 
drawing in the face of the French fleet and he could 
not sustain the siege longer. So, as I have said, on that 
bright, sunny morning, the drums began beating a par- 
ley. And this was the end of all the hard marching, 
the mad chasing, the desperate fighting, in which he 
had indulged since he landed at Charleston two years 
before. Nay, more, this was the end of a greater 
thing than Cornwallis and his army ; though they knew 
it not, it was the end of the British empire in America 
with all its "stamp acts," and non-representations and 
oppressions ; its scorn and contempt of things colonial. 
"It is over, it is over," seemed the message of the 
drums on that October morning. 

The rest was soon arranged. In order to protect 
his loyalists from the rancor of their countrymen, 
Cornwallis was allowed to send a ship back to New 
York in which they escaped. The terms insisted upon 
were the same which had been forced upon the Ameri- 
cans when the British had captured Charleston — the 
officers retaining their side-arms and everybody his 
private property. As the Americans had been com- 
pelled to play an American march when they sur- 
rendered, it was insisted that the British should do the 
same by playing a British air in this instance. At noon 
then, on October 19, 1781, the allied armies were 
drawn up in two lines, the Americans on the right, 
and the French on the left. The British marched out 
between them, sullen, dejected, bitterly indignant, their 



158 American Fights and Fighters 

bands playing, significantly enough, a quaint old 
English tune called, "The World Turned Upside 
Down !" The red standard of England was lowered be- 
fore the banners of her oldest antagonist and her 
newest enemy. The white liags of France with their 
golden lilies, which had gone down in the dust at Crecy, 
at Agincourt and at Poictiers, now beheld the banners 
of their ancient foe drooping in submission before them 
and before the Stars and Stripes; the flag that Paul 
Jones' hand had hoisted at the masthead of his ship; 
the flag which had fluttered above the bastion at Fort 
Stanwix; which Cornwallis himself had seen at Mon- 
mouth and at Guilford Court House — the flag of the 
child who had broken away from the cruel mother. 
General O'Hara, who led the British troops in the in- 
disposition of Cornwallis, surrendered his sword to 
General Lincoln, who had capitulated at Charleston. 
The British soldiers grounded arms and marched back, 
and that was the end. 

It was a great day for Washington and for that 
Revolution which had been conceived when the min- 
ute men of Lexington and of Concord rallied to the 
midnight summons of Paul Revere, riding hotly 
through the night; that Revolution which had quickened 
on the blood-stained slopes of Bunker Hill, which had 
travailed at Trenton and Princeton and had been born 
on the plains of Saratoga, which had starved and frozen 
at Valley Forge. It was now an accomplished fact. The 
fighting was over. The dullest could see that a new 
nation had arisen — a country that could not be 
conquered — that freedom had been achieved. The 
great patient man who sat his horse and watched the 
sullen soldiers pass before him, must have felt this 
with a thankful, grateful heart ; for with the deep piety 



Yorktown 159 

which was part of his nature, the first general order 
after the surrender was accompHshed bade the troops 
to a service of thanksgiving and prayer ! 

It was two o'clock in the morning when the news of 
the surrender reached the quiet city of Philadelphia. 
"Past three o'clock," cried the watchman in the still 
night, "and Cornwallis is taken!" There was no more 
sleep in the staid old town that night. "Past three 
o'clock and Cornwallis is taken !" The citizens rushed 
from their houses glad-hearted in the dawning of a 
new day. 

It was later still when the news reached England. 
Lord George Germaine was awakened early in the 
morning by the arrival of a courier who had brought 
the despatches telling the disastrous story. Sir Henry 
Clinton with his great "armada" had arrived too late. 
The surrender was accomplished when he got there; 
De Grasse had gone to the West Indies, and like the 
King of France who marched up the hill and then 
marched down again. Sir Henry had returned to New 
York. Lord George jumped into a carriage and, pick- 
ing up the chancellor by the way, drove to the house of 
the prime minister with his dreadful news. "How 
did he take it?" he was asked by a friend. "Like a 
bullet in the breast," was the reply. "He threw up his 
hands in great agony crying, 'O God, it is all over, it 
is all over !' "' and the words were even so. The king 
blustered awhile, and vowed that he would do this, or 
that, or tlie other, but in the end peace was declared, 
independence was acknowledged and the United States 
of America began to be. 



American Fights and Fighters 
Part II 

THE INDIAN WAR IN THE 
NORTHWEST 

1791-1794 



ST. CLAIR'S DEFEAT 



Late in the evening of December 19, 1791, a tired 
officer in a weather-stained uniform, on a played 
out horse, rode up to the door of the house of Presi- 
dent Washington, in Philadelphia, and demanded 
admittance on the plea of carrying urgent des- 
patches for the President. Upon the refusal of the 
officer to deliver them to Mr. Lear, his private secre- 
tary, Washington was sent for. He excused himself 
to his dinner guests and came into the hall and read 
the despatches. After dismissing the officer, he re- 
sumed his seat at the table without disclosing the pur- 
port of the communication he had received, although 
one of the company states that he heard him mutter 
under his breath, "I knew it would be so." Washing- 
ton, with his usual calm serenity, appeared in the draw- 
ing-room, where his wife was holding a reception after 
supper, and it was not until after ten o'clock that he 
was left alone with his secretary. Then his iron self- 
control was broken, and he gave way to the agitation 
which the despatch had induced. 

After pacing up and down the room a few minutes, 
he sat down and motioning Mr. Lear to a seat, he ex- 

163 



164 American Fights and Fighters 

claimed passionately, "It's all over! — St. Clair's defeat- 
ed ! — routed ; the officers nearly all killed, the men by 
the wholesale ; the rout complete ; too shocking to think 
of, and a surprise in the bargain !" His secretary 
watched him in dead silence, appalled, perhaps as 
much by the furious passion of the general as by the 
news of the overwhelming disaster. Washington pres- 
ently sprang to his feet and walked up and down the 
room again in great agitation, endeavoring to control 
himself anew. He finally stopped near the door and 
broke out again. ''Yes," he exclaimed, "here, on this 
very spot, I took leave of him ; I wished him success 
and honor. 'You have had your instructions from 
the Secretary of War,' said I, 'I had a strict eye to 
them, and will add but one word, BEWARE OF A 
SURPRISE. You know how the Indians fight us. 
I repeat it, BEWARE OF A SURPRISE.' He 
went ofi: with that, my last warning, thrown in his ears. 
And yet! To suffer that army to be cut to pieces, 
hacked, butchered, tomahawked, by a surprise — the 
very thing I guarded him against. O God ! O God !" 
he exclaimed throwing up his hands, while his very 
frame shook with emotion, "He's worse than a mur- 
derer ! How can he answ'er it to his country ! 
The blood of the slain is upon him — the curse of the 
widows and orphans — the curse of heaven !" 

After this outbreak, to which Mr. Lear dared ven- 
ture no reply, Washington struggled with himself until 
his strong will once more regained its habitual mastery 
over his feelings. After some minutes, as if ashamed 
of and regretting his passion, he broke the silence 
again by saying in a subdued and altered tone, "This 
must not go beyond this room." After another and a 
longer pause, he added, in a tone quite low and distinct 



St. Clair's Defeat 165 

and with great deliberation, "General St. Clair shall 
have justice; I looked hastily over the despatches, 
saw the whole disaster, but not all the particulars. I 
will receive him without displeasure; I will hear him 
without prejudice; he shall have full justice." 

The cause of this extraordinary fit of passion, the 
like of which only occurred a few times in the life of 
the great Washington, was one of the most frightful 
disasters that ever befell the American arms. There 
had been trouble with the Indians for years in the 
Northwest, in what is now the States of Ohio, Indi- 
ana and Illinois. The British at the close of the Revo- 
lution had not yielded their control of the lake posses- 
sions in their desire to preserve their monopoly of the 
lucrative fur trade, and they cannot be held guiltless 
of inciting and encouraging the border warfare on the 
part of the Indian and the frontiersmen, which was in 
any event a natural and legitimate outcome of the situ- 
ation. The great west bound tide of men which, since 
the Garden of Eden, has ever flooded on in the path of 
the sun, had swept across the Alleghanies in rolling 
waves ; and it speedily became necessary to secure an 
outlet for the ever increasing, onrushing deluge of 
humanity in the great waste of untilled fields, dense 
forests, and fertile valleys of the West. 

The Indian, who had roamed the country freely, 
looked upon the advance guard of civilization with 
jealousy and suspicion, and wherever the wave of prog- 
ress came in contact with the men of the Stone Age, it 
broke into the wild spray of irrepressible conflict. The 
Government of the United States did not appreciate 
the situation, and desired nothing but peace on its fron- 
tiers, never dreaming of the immense power latent in 
the straining nation, striving to break the tightening 



1 66 American Fights and Fighters 

circles in which the rapid increase of population con- 
stricted the people. It was the old story of the Anglo- 
Saxon going up to possess the earth. The Stone Age 
had enjoyed its period, it was old and left behind in the 
race ; a new day was dawning, a new people desired the 
place, and were not to be denied. The weakest must go 
to the wall again. But every foot of the advance was 
to be marked with blood and met with desperate resist- 
ance. Of such alway is the path of civilization. 

The history of the eight years following the Revolu- 
tion is one of merciless outrage and bloody reprisal, 
of ruthless, cruel and terrible warfare in which cupidity 
and guile played leading parts. From a moral stand- 
point the American was the more blamable for he 
knew more; from a physical standpoint, the savage, 
for he knew less, and his methods of warfare were in 
accordance with his lack of knowledge. It was his 
land, too, but on the other hand he could not use it. 
The question of right is a deep one, here we are only 
concerned with the facts. The innocent and guilty suf- 
fered alike on both sides from the play of passion, and 
outrage after outrage occurred on the part of the 
thoroughly aroused savages, until the Government 
was at last compelled to take notice. Expeditions 
under Harmer and others had been rather severely 
handled, and public opinion had been so aroused by sev- 
eral unusually atrocious depredations, that an army 
for the chastisement of the savages was authorized by 
Congress, and Major-General Arthur St. Clair was 
placed in command. 

His force, which had assembled at Fort Washington 
on the Ohio, now Cincinnati, comprised two small 
regiments of regulars, newly organized, two regi- 
ments of six month levies, and a large body of 



St. Clair's Defeat 167 

militia, to which were added two small batteries of 
light guns and several squadrons of inferior cavalry. 
Headquarters were eventually established at Fort 
Hamilton, twenty-five miles north of Fort Washing- 
ton, where months of inactive waiting for the arrival 
of nearly every sort of necessity for campaigning 
passed away. The pay allowed by the Government 
was so miserable that the better class of men absolutely 
refused to enlist. The bulk of the army came from 
the purlieus of the seaboard cities, "the prison, the 
wheelbarrow and the brothel," for two dollars per 
month a head ! The six month levies were no better, 
and the militia, much worse. 

The officers were mainly men of spirit and courage 
but of limited military experience. The experienced 
frontiersmen like Brady looked askance and would 
have nothing to do with such an army for such an ex- 
pedition, and the whole assemblage was as ignorant of 
Indian warfare as if they had been babies in arms. 
Braddock's famous army, though made up of much 
better men, was not more confident nor more stupid. 
The second in command was General Richard Butler, 
who was an old Revolutionary soldier, as was the 
Adjutant-General, Colonel Winthrop Sargent, who 
was the only really capable man among the leaders of 
the party. St. Clair was nearly sixty years old. He 
had served with credit in the Revolution and was a 
man of undoubted honor, probity and courage, but he 
was seriously ill with the gout and other ailments, and 
was frequently unable to ride a horse and had to be 
carried on a litter. Butler was in much the same con- 
dition. 

The arms, equipments and other supplies were as 
bad as possible. Much of the powder was spoiled or 



1 68 American Fights and Fighters 

was of inferior quality. There was no food for the 
men, no fodder for the horses, which were broken 
down old hacks. The commissary and quartermaster 
departments were woefully inefficient. It was the old 
story so often repeated of an absolute unpreparedness 
for action, and the Republic never seems to learn the 
lesson of it. The two regular regiments had been as- 
siduously drilled during the long days of weary wait- 
ing, and in ordinary warfare might have proved fairly 
efficient, but nothing on earth could ever make woods- 
men of them or fit them for their present purpose. The 
six month levies and the militia, if anything, deterior- 
ated rather than improved during the delay. It is only 
justice to St. Clair to state that he protested vigorously 
against this state of affairs, but without result. Still 
he never seems to have entertained a doubt of ultimate 
success, even considering the wretched quality of the 
army. 

On October 4, 1791, the miserable army began its 
forward movement. Its rate of progress was about 
six miles a day ! For nine days it cut its way through 
damp, dense woods, or dragged itself wearily over the 
sodden prairies, wet with the heavy autumnal rains. 
Then it stopped and built a fort which was called Fort 
Jefferson, where the large numbers of sick and some 
scanty supplies were left. On the twenty-fourth of 
October the march was resumed. The straggling was 
awful, desertions frequent, and although St. Clair, in 
the endeavor to preserve discipline, hung three of the 
deserters summarily, the measure did not seem effec- 
tive. On the thirty-first of October they had made 
about twenty miles, without seeing any great force of 
Indians, though there was some little skirmishing from 
time to time, and the advance was greatly galled and 



St. Clair's Defeat 169 

disheartened by stray warriors who took pot shots at 
the hapless Americans from the underbrush, and disap- 
peared before they could be apprehended or even seen. 
There were no organized parties of flankers or scouts, 
and what few men were detailed for that vital duty 
were left mainly to their own devices. On the night of 
the same day sixty of the militia deserted in a body, 
after proclaiming their intention to live off the supply 
trains, which were lagging unaccountably in the rear. 
To capture and to bring them back and to protect this 
supply train as well St. Clair very foolishly detached 
one of his two regular regiments, the second, under 
Major Hamtranck, on the first of November. This 
most seriously weakened his army. 

On the third of November the army camped in the 
evening on the east fork of the Wabash, at this point 
a little stream scarcely twenty yards wide and fordable 
anywhere. It was St. Clair's design, as he was near 
the principal Miami villages, to throw up another for- 
tification, leave the sick and all except absolutely 
necessary baggage in it, and push on to destroy the 
towns, and then, after leaving strong garrisons in the 
various forts, return to the Ohio for the winter. He 
did not have a chance to put his plan in operation. The 
army, now reduced to about fourteen hundred men, in- 
cluding camp followers and about thirty wretched 
women, was camped in a clearing on a narrow rise of 
ground about three hundred and fifty feet long. The 
place was surrounded by dense virgin woods, through 
which they had been compelled to cut a narrow road. 
The main body, consisting of the regulars and the lev- 
ies, was drawn up in two lines facing out, with the bat- 
teries in the center and the cavalry on either flank, 
making a sort of elongated hollow square. On the 



lyo American Fights and Fighters 

other side of the creek the miHtia and a small scouting 
party were thrown forward. 

The officer in charge of the scouts came back to 
headquarters in the night and told St. Clair that he had 
discovered signs of large bodies of Indians. He was 
thanked for his information and told to return to his 
post, the matter would be looked into in the morning; 
the tired soldiers were plunged in slumber and could 
not be disturbed for rumors of this kind — for most 
of them there was to be a dreadful awakening in that 
coming day. The men were paraded as usual at sun- 
rise, and had just been dismissed to prepare their break- 
fast, when rifle shots rang out in the cold, raw morn- 
ing. It was the thing they had been warned against, 
a surprise! There was a slight snow on the ground, 
which was very wet and muddy, and the little pools 
were covered with a thin coating of ice, which soon 
melted away as the day advanced. The firing in the 
front at once became general. After the briefest pos- 
sible stand and a volley or two, the advance party of 
the militia were routed by the charging Indians, and 
came running back pell-mell across the stream and 
plunged into the regiments in camp, which were hastily 
reassembling to the long roll of the drums, causing 
much disorder and confusion. 

Such was the impetuosity of the Indians' pursuit, 
as they rushed forward through the creek, and so close 
were they on the heels of the craven militia that they 
almost broke through the startled lines of the camp, 
and a stampede was with difficulty averted by the offi- 
cers. One or two hasty volleys from the first line of 
the regulars, however, drove the savages out of the 
open to seek shelter in the thick and almost impenetra- 
ble woods. At the same moment the army found itself 



St. Clair's Defeat 171 

surrounded and assailed from every side. Every tree 
trunk, every fallen log, every clump of bushes hid a 
crouching foe, and the bullets fairly rained in among 
the exposed men in the clearing, who sent volley after 
volley in every direction without doing any perceptible 
damage. The artillery was unlimbered and the guns 
were served with furious energy ; so that the army was 
soon covered with clouds of its own smoke through 
which the men fired aimlessly in the greatest bewil- 
derment. 

The officers strove with the greatest courage to re- 
form the lines which had been broken and disorganized 
by the fleeing militia. St. Clair in person took com- 
mand of one line, Butler the other. One likes to think 
of the old general walking calmly up and down the 
line, his gray hairs floating in the wind, striving to en- 
courage the men; it somewhat redeems the man after 
all, so splendid a virtue is courage. For a time they 
stood their ground manfully under a hail of bullets 
from their concealed foe — pushed to the wall, even 
the most craven and ignoble will fight in the last ex- 
tremity. But the situation was more than they could 
stand ; the poor frightened outcast from the towns 
firing blindly into the smoke suddenly would be ap- 
palled by the sight of a feather-crowned head, a pair 
of burning eyes gleaming fiercely upon him from out a 
painted face; and before his terror-dried throat could 
frame a shriek, with a wild cry screamed in his ears, 
the tomahawk would be buried in his brain, the scalp- 
ing knife circling his head. The groaning wounded 
were given sudden relief from their agonies by the 
thrust of a gleaming knife in the hand of some crawl- 
ing, stealthy prowler who had made his way unnoticed 
into the camp in the awful confusion. 



172 American Fights and Fighters 

But the Indians had grown bolder from their own 
immunity, and noting the numbers of those wdio fell, 
from time to time they advanced from the underbrush 
and under cover of the smoke rushed recklessly upon 
the Americans, a thing most unusual for them. When- 
ever they could be seen in force, they were met with 
the most determined courage and repelled time and 
again by furious bayonet charges. Again and again 
the officers led their men forward. The Indians, how- 
ever, would never remain to face the advancing detach- 
ments, but would melt away on every side and when 
the charging party had gone a little way from the camp 
it would be necessary to execute a return charge to 
get back through the interposing bodies of the foe, 
and in these little retreats more would be lost than had 
been gained in the charge. Particular attention was 
paid by the Indians to the artillery. Every officer 
and most of the men connected with it were soon 
killed or wounded. Every officer in the only regular 
regiment remaining met a like fate. 

Several times the Indians succeeded, under cover of 
the smoke, in breaking through the lines in force, kill- 
ing and scalping the wounded wherever they were," 
and were only prevented by heroic efforts from captur- 
ing the camp. General Butler, who was shot in the 
arm in the early part of the action, walked up and 
down cheering on his men until another bullet brought 
him dow'n. As he lay on the ground he was toma- 
hawked by one of the Indian attacking parties. St. 
Clair had eight bullets through his clothing, a shot 
grazed his head, cutting off a lock of his hair, but he 
was otherwise unharmed. In spite of his age and his 
infirmities he several times personally led charges, 
sword in hand, upon the Indians, but his experienced 



St. Clair's Defeat 173 

eye saw that the battle was going seriously against him; 
the spirit of his men was giving out, their resistance 
was becoming feebler, ammunition was getting low, 
most of the officers were gone — the game was up. The 
numbers of the slain and the wounded were increasing 
at a fearful rate, the ground was covered with bodies, 
the Indians were coming in closer and closer and 
the violence of their fire did not slacken in the least 
degree. Something would have to be done and 
promptly, else they would all be massacred where they 
stood. 

Under the orders of St. Clair, Colonel Darke, the 
commander of the second regiment, although badly 
wounded, assembled what men he could and led a charge 
upon the encircling line of the Indians as if to get in 
their rear; while St. Clair, with some of the bolder 
soldiers, taking advantage of the diversion thus caused, 
broke through in another direction and circling round 
upon the rear, succeeded in opening a way of escape by 
gaining possession of the road which they had made 
through the trees in prosecuting their advance. With 
the desperate courage of despair the little band held 
the way open while the terror-stricken men tore 
through the pathway thus made without a moment's 
hesitation. They lost all semblance of organization 
and discipline and the retreat at once became a fright- 
ful rout. The hapless \vounded were left behind or 
thrust aside; arms and equipments and everything 
which would impede flight were cast away, and in one 
long, maddened mob they ran frantically down the 
open road in wild panic. 

Darke and a few remaining officers and men la- 
bored heroically with a skeleton rear-guard to prevent 
pursuit; St. Clair, mounted on a wounded pack horse. 



174 American Fights and Fighters 

endeavored to get to the front to stop the rout and 
restore some kind of order, but the wretched animal 
could not be pricked out of a walk. Meanwhile the 
ruthless Indians, like silent shadows, flitted through 
the heavy woods on either side of the road and picked 
off the frightened, helpless, unresisting men at their 
pleasure. But their desire for the booty of the camp 
and their utter lack of military organization caused 
them to withdraw from the pursuit about four miles 
from the camp, and the fugitives were left to pursue 
their mad flight unhindered. The temporary with- 
drawal of their savage pursuers made no difference to 
them, they ran on through the long day until they 
dropped from exhaustion ; many of them, especially 
those who were wounded, crawled into the woods and 
were lost in its fastnesses, where they perished misera- 
bly from fevers, starvation, or under the tomahawks 
of the triumphant war parties which scoured the coun- 
try for days after the battle. The wounded remaining 
in the camp were butchered and tortured in the most 
ferocious manner, until death gave them welcome re- 
lief. The unfortunate women of the camp, who were 
all captured, were staked out upon the ground and 
their fate can hardly be imagined ; they were all finally 
put to death, a welcome relief. Some of the ruder 
tribes indulged in a wild cannibalistic orgie ! 

It was six o'clock in the evening when the army 
reached Fort Jefferson, having met on the way Ham- 
tranck's regiment which with pusillanimous hesitation 
had failed to advance to cover the retreat, and could 
not now be driven forward. It had taken the army 
seven days to advance twenty-nine miles — the distance 
in retreat was covered in as many hours. 

The number of the killed was six hundred and thirty, 



St. Clair's Defeat 175 

seriously wounded, two hundred and eighty. Only 
about five hundred escaped, most of whom were slight- 
ly wounded or in some way bore marks of the awful 
disaster. The Indian loss was rather less than a hun- 
dred and the total number of Indians engaged was 
probably not as much as a thousand. The Indian 
leader was, according to some accounts, Little Turtle, 
the noted war chief of the Miamis ; according to others, 
Thayendanegea, otherwise known as Joseph Brant, 
the chief of the Six Nations, the illegitimate son, ac- 
cording to some records, of the famous Sir William 
Johnson, and the inveterate foe of the Americans, 
He is remembered for his participation in the Wyo- 
miing and the Minnisink massacres; and he was, 
with the possible exception of Pontiac, and it may 
be, Tecumseh, the ablest Indian who ever lived. The 
Indians who fought were Algonquins and belonged 
to the Wyandottes, Shawnees, Ottawas, Miamis, and 
Delawares. Brant was an Iroquois and, as the head 
chief of their great confederacy, was probably attend- 
ed by a small body of these ruthless and famous war- 
riors. The Delawares had been hitherto designated by 
the haughty Iroquois as women; in this action they 
wiped out the stigma and proved themselves men. 

Resting for a day or two at Fort Jefferson, the de- 
feated Americans retreated to Fort Washington, and 
the wretched St. Clair despatched a staff officer with 
the news of the disaster to the President. How that 
news was received we have seen. The unfortunate 
St. Clair resigned his commission soon after, and 
Washington appointed Mad Anthony Wayne to" suc- 
ceed him. Wayne was a soldier of a different stamp 
and after some vigorous campaigning, culminating in 
the Battle of the Falling Timbers, August 20, 1794, he 



176 American Fights and Fighters 

completely broke the savage power, and there was 
peace in the Northwest thereafter. General St. Clair 
was explicitly exculpated from blame by a committee 
of Congress after a rigid examination, partly, it is sup- 
posed, on account of his long and honorable career, and 
the great personal sacrifices he had made during the 
Revolution. Although severely reprehended by the 
general public, he continued to enjoy the confidence 
and friendship of his old commander. Such was the 
"justice" of Washington toward his old comrade-in 
arms! 



American Fights and Fighters 
Part III 

THE WAR WITH FRANCE 

1798-1800 



TRUXTUN AND THE CONSTELLATION 

' To know we're resolved, let them think on the hour, 
When Truxtun, brave Truxtun off Nevis's shore. 
His ship manned for battle, the standard unfurled. 
And at the Insurgente defiance he hurled. 

' Then raise high the strain, pay the tribute that's due 
To the fair Constellation, SiVid all her brave Crewr; 
Be Truxtun revered, and his name be enrolled, 
'Mongst the chiefs of the ocean, the heroes of old." 

Old Song. 



TRUXTUN AND THE CON- 
STELLATION 



This is a story of a forgotten ship and a forgotten 
captain in a forgotten war. The names of Paul Jones, 
Hull, Decatur, Bainbriclge, Stewart, Perry; the ships 
or squadrons they commanded, and the battles they 
fought, are as familiar in our mouths as household 
words; but who to-day thinks of Truxtun and the 
Constellation? Yet he was quite on a level with any 
one of the others in the matter of personal gallantry, 
professional skill and unvarying success. In the 
frigate Constellation he fought two most brilliant sin- 
gle ship duels; in one instance with L'Insurgcnte, a 
frigate of slightly less force than his own, and in the 
other with La Vengeance, a very much larger and 
heavier ship; the latter action was the more notable 
when it is recalled that in the War of 1812, ih which 
the United States Navy gained such everlasting re- 
nown, in almost every instance our ships were larger 
and carried heavier guns and more men than those of 
the enemy ; certainly this is true of all the more impor- 
tant actions. This detracts nothing from the glory of 
these combats, but it certainly enhances Truxtun's 
reputation to have thoroughly beaten a ship which, in 

179 



i8o American Fights and Fighters 

every particular, save in the quality of the man on the 
quarter-deck and the men behind the guns, entirely 
outclassed his own. 

The man himself is a most romantic and pic- 
turesque figure; he was, with one possible exception, 
the only one of the sea officers of the Revolution who 
subsequently rose to any degree of eminence in the 
naval service. Born on Long Island, on February. 17, 
V55 (and his natal was also his lucky month, as we 
shall see), he was the son of an eminent English lawyer 
settled in the then royal colony of New York. Through 
the influence of a relative who cared for him after the 
death of his father early in his own life, he went to sea 
in the merchant service when only twelve years old. 
His opportunities for education were limited therefore, 
but he had diligently improved them and by application 
in later life more than made up what he might more 
easily have acquired had he remained on shore. One 
or two books, technical in character, of which he 
was the author, a treatise on navigation, and letters 
and despatches still extant, bear out this statement. 
The educational standard of the day was certainly not 
high and he easily surpassed it. 

He made many voyages in distant seas, and at one 
time was pressed in his Britannic Majesty's ship Pru- 
dent, 64, where his ability attracting attention, he was 
offered a midshipman's warrant, but he declined it and 
was shortly after released from the English service. 
In 1775, at the age of twenty, he actually commanded 
a ship — the Andre-iv Caldzvell — in which, by his daring 
and address, he succeeded in bringing large quantities 
of much needed gunpowder into the rebellious colonies. 
In the same year, his ship, in which he had acquired a 
half ownership (good for a boy of that day), was cap- 



Truxtun and the Cortstellation i8i 

tured, condemned and sold, and he was made a prison- 
er. Nothing daunted by this reverse of fortune, he 
finally escaped from surveillance at St. Eustatius and 
made his way to Philadelphia. Early in 1776 he 
shipped as a lieutenant in the Congress, the first to 
get tosea of a long line of bold privateers which swept 
the waters for British ships, and in the next war with 
that country, in 181 2, nearly drove the merchant ves- 
sels of the English from the Atlantic Ocean. 

In 1777 he fitted out the privateer ship Independence, 
boldly dashed through the British guard ships in Long 
Island Sound, out around Lord Howe's tremendous 
fleet, and made a brilliantly successful cruise, captur- 
ing several ships, one larger and with more guns and 
men aboard of her than his own. 

On this cruise the young privateersman had a rather 
unpleasant encounter with Captain John Paul Jones 
with regard to his flying a pennant in the presence of 
the latter's regularly commissioned ship-of-war. The 
offending pennant was most properly hauled down 
after a sharp correspondence at the demand of Captain 
Jones, always a fighter for his prerogatives and for 
everything else as well, but not until the peremptory 
request was backed by one Richard Dale with two 
heavy boat crews fully armed. While the incident 
speaks little for Truxton's discretion, it says much for 
the pluck and courage of a boy in daring to withstand 
even for a moment so great a captain as Paul Jones, 
who taught him in the end a needed lesson. 

The next year, in command of the Mars, a larger 
and better ship, still gaily privateering, he emulated the 
example of Wickes and Connyngham and ravaged the 
English Channel, sending so many prizes into Quiberon 
Bay that an international question was vigorously 



1 82 American Fights and Fighters 

raised by Lord Stormont. Later, in the St. James, 
a ship of twenty guns and one hundred and twenty 
men, while carrying Mr. Thomas Barclay, just appoint- 
ed Consul-General to France, he beat off, after a des- 
perate action, an English frigate of thirty-two guns! 
A bold, dashing, hard fighting, thorough-going sailor 
was Master Thomas Truxtun, Revolutionary Priva- 
teer sman. 

In person he was short and stout, red-faced and 
gray-eyed, but handsome and strong looking. To the 
day of his death he always wore a quaint, old-fashioned 
naval wig. He was quick tempered with men, especial- 
ly wdien he had the gout, which, as he was a high liver, 
was not infrequently; at such times he was wont to 
make it somewdiat unpleasant for his body servant, an 
old seaman who had sailed with him for many years. 
With women he was always courteous and charming, 
and seeing that he had thirteen daughters and only one 
son, it may be conceded that he had no lack of experi- 
ence with the ruling sex. Li short, he was of that 
quaint, old-fashioned, forgotten type of sea officers 
which vanished wdien the romantic and beautiful 
sailing ship of the past was supplanted by the prosaic, 
but intensely business-like iron pot of the day. He was 
a good Churchman too, and sleeps after his tempestu- 
ous life in Christ Church burying ground in Philadel- 
phia — well, he earned his rest. 

After the war he again engaged in the merchant 
service, visiting at different times in his own ships all 
quarters of the globe and becoming in time wealthy, 
substantial and respected. When the United States 
Navy was organized, in 1794, under the stimulus of 
the Algerine piratical depredations, he was made the 
last of the six captains for the six new ships author- 



Truxtun and the Constellation 183 

izecl by Congress. In his case, the last certainly became 
the first. He was appointed to the new ship Constel- 
lation, 38, then building at Baltimore, and superin- 
tended her building and equipment. She was launched 
on September 7, 1 797, and is at present the oldest ship 
on the United States Navy list, the frigate United 
States, 44, which was launched two months prior, hav- 
ing long since been destroyed. The Algerine difficulty 
having been temporarily adjusted. Congress, smarting 
under the arrogant aggressions of the French upon 
our ships and flag abrogated all treaties and, in July, 
1798, began a little naval warfare on its own account; 
which is chiefly remembered for the exploits of the Con- 
stellation and for having given rise, a little time before 
the beginning of hostilities, to Pinckney's famous say- 
ing, "Millions for defense, not one cent for tribute ;"or, 
as a modern, iconoclastic, and more probable version 
writes his answer to the French demands, "Nary a 
penny !" 

About noon on Saturday, February 9, 1799, while the 
Constellation under easy canvas was cruising ofif the 
Island of St. Kitts, a sail was sighted to the southward, 
whereupon she squared away and headed for the 
stranger. The wind was blowing fresh from the 
northeast, and all sail was at once crowded on the frig- 
ate in chase, reefs w'ere shaken out of the topsails by 
the eager topmen, the royals and topgallant sails set, 
the light studding sails on their slender booms were 
rapidly extended far out beyond the broad yard-arms, 
and the gallant ship, "taking a bone in her teeth," as 
the sailors say, tore through the waves and bore down 
upon the stranger at a tremendous pace, the water 
boiling and foaming about her cutwater, the spray 
flying over her lee cathead, the waves rushing madly 



184 American Fights and Fighters 

along the smooth sides of the great ship, and coming 
together again under her counter, making a swirHng 
wake in the deep blue of the tossing sea. 

The stranger bore up at once, hauling aboard his 
port tacks, and showed no disposition to avoid the ex- 
pected attack of the Constellation. The two ships 
were both very speedy and weatherly; the Constella- 
tion was certainly the fastest vessel in the American 
navy then and for many years after, and the French 
ship had the reputation of being one of the fast- 
est ships in the navies of the world. They neared 
each other rapidly therefore, but the fresh breeze 
blew up into a sudden squall. The watchful Truxtun, 
who had noticed its approach, however, was ready for 
it, though he held on under all sail till the very last 
breathless minute. Just before the blow fell, the order 
was "In stun's'ls, royals and topgallants'ls, all hands 
reef tops'ls." The nimble crew executed the orders 
with such dashing precision that, when the squall 
broke a few moments after, everything was snug alow 
and aloft, and the ship bore the fury of the wind's at- 
tack unharmed, having lost not a foot of distance 
through shortening sail before the emergency demand- 
ed it. As soon as the squall cleared away and the rain, 
which had hidden the ships from each other, had 
abated, the Constellation's people found that the chase 
had not fared so well as they; less smartly handled, 
with a less capable crew, she had lost her main topmast. 
The wreck had been cleared on her, her course changed 
and, with the wind now on the quarter, she was head- 
ing in, hoping to make a harbor and escape the conflict. 

Truxtun and the Constellation would not be denied 
however, the yard-arms were covered with canvas 
again, the men sent to quarters, and all preparations 



Truxtun and the Consfellation 185 

made for the action. The other ship, after hoisting 
various different flags, finding escape impossible, fin- 
ally set the French colors, ran oft' to the southeast, 
and gallantly fired a lee gun as a signal of readiness 
to engage. At 3 p.m. the Constellation having taken 
in her light sails, and stripped herself to fighting can- 
vas, drev^' up on the Frenchman's weather quarter. 
This was the first great action in which the United 
States Navy had ever borne a part. It was, in fact, 
the first great action in which Captain Truxtun had 
ever borne a part himself. His other battles had been 
in smaller ships and there had been about the service 
the little taint of gain, which always attaches to the pri- 
vateer, the soldier of fortune of the ocean. Now he 
was the commander of a perfectly appointed ship-of- 
war representing the dignity and power of the United 
States. The spirit which had defied blockades, laughed 
at odds, struggled with Paul Jones, was with him 
still, however, and he did not doubt the outcome of the 
combat ; neither did his men, and in silence and confi- 
dence they approached the enemy. 

When the Constellation had drawn well abreast her 
antagonist, at a distance of perhaps thirty feet, the 
Frenchman hailed. Captain Truxtun's answer w^as a 
terrific broadside, which was at once returned. As 
the shot of the enemy came crashing through the Con- 
stellation, one poor fellow flinched from his gun, on see- 
ing his mate literally disemboweled by a solid shot, and 
started to run from his quarters. The man was at 
once shot dead by Lieutenant Sterrett, commanding the 
third division of guns. There was no more flinching 
in that battery — that was the kind of discipline on the 
ship. The French ship, which carried one hundred 
more men than the other, now immediately luffed up 



1 86 American Fights and Fighters 

into the wind to board, firing fiercely the while ; but the 
Constellation drew ahead. Then Truxtun saw his 
chance; it was "up helm and square away again." He 
ran the Constellation sharply down across the bows of 
her enemy, and at short range poured a raking broad- 
side fairly into her face ; then ranging along the other 
(the starboard) side of the Frenchman, he finally took 
position of? the starboard bow, and for nearly an hour 
deliberately poured in a withering fire. At four o'clock 
Truxtun drew ahead once more, luffed up into the 
wind and crossed the French ship's bow, again repeat- 
ing the raking, sailed along the larboard side, firing 
as he went, took up a position on the larboard bow, and 
soon dismounted every gun on the main deck, leaving 
the enemy only the light guns above with which to con- 
tinue the fight — the French ship was as helpless as a 
chopping block. With masterly seamanship the Amer- 
ican had literally sailed around the devoted French- 
man, destroying each battery in succession and raking 
him fore and aft again and again. The doomed 
French ship now drew ahead again and the Constella- 
tion crossed astern of her, and took position in prepa- 
ration for another tremendous raking and pounding, 
when the Frenchman reluctantly struck his flag. 

The prize was the splendid frigate L'Insiirgente, 
forty guns and four hundred and nine men; Captain 
Barreaut, her commander, made a noble defense and 
only struck his flag when he had not a single gun in 
the main battery which could be used, and after seven- 
ty of his crew had been killed or wounded. The 
Constellation had two killed and only three wounded! 
The happy result of this brilliant action between the 
two ships was due mainly to the seamanship of the 
commander and the gun practice of the men, though 



Truxtun and the Constellation 187 

the Constellation carrying long twenty-four pounders 
on her main deck as against L'Insitrgcntc's long eigh- 
teen pounders had a decided advantage of her. Among 
the American officers in this engagement were two 
men, afterward justly celebrated in the War of 1812; 
Lieutenant John Rodgers and Midshipman David 
Porter; the latter, who was stationed in the foretop, 
seeing at one period of the action that the topmast 
had been seriously wounded and was tottering and 
about to fall, being unable to make any one hear him 
on deck, took the responsibility of lowering the fore- 
top-sail yard on his own motion, thus relieving the 
strain on the mast and preventing a mishap which 
might have altered the fate of the battle. 

Rodgers and Porter were placed in charge of the 
prize. During the night a fierce gale blew up, and in 
the morning the Constellation was nowhere to be seen 
by Rodgers, whose position was most critical. Thir- 
teen Americans all told were to guard one hundred and 
seventy-three prisoners who had not been transferred 
to the Constellation, on a leaking, shattered, dismasted 
ship, w^allowing in the trough of the sea, the dead and 
dying still tossed about on her heaving decks. There 
were no handcuffs or shackles aboard, the gratings 
which covered and secured the hatches had been 
thrown away. Rodgers was a man of splendid pro- 
portions and great strength. Porter was a determined 
second. They and their plucky companions put a 
bold front on the matter and resolutely drove the 
mutinous Frenchmen into the lower hold, where they 
were kept in check by a cannon loaded to the muzzle 
with grape and canister, and pointed down the hatch- 
way over which bags of heavy shot were suspended 
by lashings which could easily be cut and the shot 



1 88 American Fights and Fighters 

dropped down upon the heads of an attacking party be- 
low. Every small arm on the ship was loaded and 
placed conveniently at hand, and the hatch was closely 
guarded by three men armed to the teeth. The others 
cleared the wreck, made sail, and after three days and 
two nights of the hardest labor and the greatest anx- 
iety, during which every man of them remained con- 
tinuously on deck, they finally reached St. Kitts, to the 
very great relief of Truxtun who had preceded them. 
This exploit was scarcely less notable than had been the 
battle itself. This was the stern school of the Ameri- 
can navy, and the subsequent wars have showed that 
it developed men. 



One year after the capture of L'Insurgcntc, the 
Constellation, still under Truxtun's command, was 
cruising on her old grounds to the southward of St. 
Kitts, and about fifteen miles west of Basseterre. Ear- 
ly on the morning of February i, 1800, a sail was 
sighted to the southward, standing to the west. 
Whereupon the Constellation immediately made sail 
and bore down in pursuit of the stranger, which was 
soon seen to be a large and heavily armed ship-of-war, 
evidently much stronger in force than the Constella- 
tion herself. Not in the least disquieted by this open 
disparity in favor of the enemy, Truxtun made every 
effort to close with her. The Frenchman apparently 
had no stomach for a fight and made equally deter- 
mined efforts to get away. 

The wind was light and baffling, with frequent inter- 
vals of calm, and the Americans could not get along- 
side in spite of the most persistent efforts. For over 
twenty-four hours the pursuit continued with no re- 



Truxtun and the Constellation 189 

suit whatever. About two o'clock on the afternoon 
of February second, being Sunday again (the frigate's 
lucky day it seemed), the breeze freshened and stead- 
ied ; and by setting every cloth of canvas the swift 
sailing Constellation at last began to draw up to the 
rather deep laden chase. As the breeze held and 
there was every prospect of soon overhauling her, the 
men were sent to quarters and every preparation made 
for the fight, the yards were slung with chains, top- 
sail sheets, shrouds, and other rigging stoppered, pre- 
venter backstays reeved, boarding and splinter nettings 
triced up, the boats covered, decks sanded, maga- 
zines opened, arms distributed, etc. 

The battle was to be a night one, however, as it was 
eight o'clock in the evening before the two ships were 
within gunshot distance. The candles in the battle- 
lanterns were lighted and each frigate presented a 
brilliant picture to the other as the light streamed far 
out over the tossing water. It was a bright moonlight 
night and the ships were as visible as if it were day- 
time. Seeing that escape was hopeless, the Frenchmen 
apparently made up their minds to a desperate contest 
and all hands, including a number of passengers, went 
to quarters, cheering loudly, the sound of their voices 
coming faintly up the wind to the silent Constellation 
sweeping toward them. 

Before the battle was joined the stout commodore 
with his aides descended to the gun-deck and passed 
through the ship. The men had been as exuberant 
as children and had gone to the guns dancing and 
leaping, but as they drew near the enemy their 
exuberance subsided, and joyousness gave way to a 
feeling of calm deliberation arid high resolve to repeat, 
if possible, the success of the year before. As he 



IQO American Fights and Fighters 

walked through the batteries Truxtun emphatically 
charged his men not to fire a gun until he gave the 
word, under pain of death; those who had been in the 
last battle knew what he meant. He knew as did 
other great American naval commanders the value of 
a close, well-delivered broadside at the right moment, 
and of that moment he himself would be the judge. 
His instructions were that the loading of the pieces 
was to be as rapid as possible and the fire deliberate, 
and only delivered when it would be effective; not a 
single charge was to be thrown away ; the guns were to 
be loaded mainly with solid shot with the addition of 
a stand of grape now and then; and the object of their 
attack was to be the hull of the enemy ; no attention 
was to be paid by the main battery to the spars or rig- 
ging. The marines and small-arm men were to devote 
their efforts particularly to the officers and crew of the 
enemy. The officers were charged to- allow no undue 
haste nor confusion among the men of the several di- 
visions, and they were cautioned to set the men an 
example of steadiness by their own cool and deter- 
mined bearing. Like a prudent commander. Commo- 
dore Truxtun wisely determined to throw away no 
chance of success by any carelessness on the part of him- 
self or his men; as they neared their huge, overpower- 
ing antagonist, the necessity for making every shot tell 
was as apparent to them as to him. Again enjoining 
strict silence, the commodore regained the quarter- 
deck, and stepping to the lee side, for he had skilfully 
held the weather-gage of his big enemy, he seized a 
large trumpet and prepared to hail her. 

At this moment a bright flash of light shot out into 
the night from the black side of the towering French- 
man, followed by the roar of the discharge of a stern 



Truxtun and the Constellation 191 

chaser beginning the action, in which all of the after 
guns of the Frenchman immediately participated. The 
shot from the long eighteens and twelves, and the great 
bolts from the forty-two-pound carronades crashed in- 
to the American frigate sweeping steadily forward. 
Men began to fall here and there on the Constellation's 
decks; the wounded, groaning or shrieking or stupe- 
fied with pain, were carried below to the surgeon and 
his mates in the cockpit, while the dead were hastily 
ranged along the deck on the unengaged side. No one 
made a sound, however, except the wounded, and even 
they endeavored to stifle their groans and rise super- 
ior to their anguish. But the punishment was exceed- 
ingly severe and it was almost more than the men 
could bear to stand patiently receiving such an attack, 
though Truxtun sent his aides forward again, sternly 
enforcing his command to the men to withhold their 
fire until directed. There was no flinching, however, 
on this occasion ; the officers kept the men well in hand, 
but the situation was getting desperate, breaths came 
harder, hearts beat faster, the inaction was killing; 
was that imperturbable captain never going to give the 
order to fire ? 

Meanwhile the frigate was rapidly drawing nearer, 
now the bow of the Constellation lapped the larboard 
quarter of the French ship, the moment was coming, 
it was at hand. Truxtun swung his ship up into 
the wind a little and away from the other to bring 
the whole broadside to bear, and then leaping up 
on the taffrail and from thence into the mizzen- 
shrouds in plain view of both ships' crews and a 
target for a hundred rifles from the Frenchman, lean- 
ing far out over the black water, in his deep, powerful 
voice he gave the command to fire — a noble and heroic 



192 American Fights and Fighters 

figure! With wild cheers for their gallant captain 
the men delivered the mighty broadside. Their own 
ship reeled and trembled from the recoil of the dis- 
charge of the heavy battery, and the effect on the ene- 
my was fearful; his cheering stopped at once and a 
moment of silence broken by wild shrieks of pain 
and deep groans and curses supervened. 

The conflict was soon resumed, however, and shol 
answered shot, cheer met cheer as the two ships, cov- 
ered with smoke, fought it out through the long hours 
of the night. The men toiled and sweated at the 
guns, cheering and cursing; the grime and soil of the 
powder smoke covered their half naked bodies; here 
and there a bloody bandage bespoke a bleeding wound, 
dead men lay where they fell or were thrust hastily 
aside ; the once white decks grew slippery with blood in 
spite of the sand poured upon them, as the raving, 
maddened crew continued the awful conflict. There 
was little opportunity for manoeuvering, and until mid- 
night they maintained a yard-arm to yard-arm combat. 
The fire of the Frenchman was directed mainly at the 
spars and rigging of the Constellation, so that an 
unusually large part of her crew was employed in 
splicing rope and reeving new gear as fast as it was 
shot away. Nevertheless, the remainder of the crew 
served their artillery so rapidly and brilliantly that 
many of the guns became so heated as to be useless, 
until men crawled out of the ports, in the face of the 
open fire of the enemy, and dipping up buckets of 
water cooled them off. 

About one bell in the mid-watch (half after twelve), 
Truxtun at last ranged ahead and, taking posi- 
tion on the bow of the French ship, finally succeeded 
in silencing completely her fire which had grown more 








Jie-llO Iveif. t/ tJie SeniXU a/ui h-'iuie M' Rfpresenlunte/i. of thr rnUai States nfAiiimcnm CotiarrM •i.'.'rmHrif. 
That the Presidatt of the United ^tafe*. Be r^ursted Cf present to t^tain TlwmuJ Tnuetu'i it Golden Me<fal, 
t'tnhhmntiftil of the iatr action between the United State* Friffafe Cenate/tatjonof t/ttrtj' eiijh/ C'tma, and 
the French Ship ot' H'orLa Vengeance of titty /our Ottm. In testinwny cf the /t'^h trtufe entertained hy 

CoitprcM of hw OnUtuitri' nnd t^ood cotuhirt in the above enffa^enient. uhereai tin ejntn/j/e H-a^ ejdiibi- 
•ted by the C^xptazn Ot'r'icers. Sadors and Marines, honourable to the American name and matructn-e 
to iu ri*ina Navy. 

And it IS fitrther Rc'Soh-ed, that the conduct of Jaitua Jaf\^^ a Mid^hiptnan i/i ^aid 
J*yigate, who GfortoHtfl/ prefer^ certain death to an ahandonment ofhia post, is deserving of the highest 
pr^Uffe, and that the los.f of so prormsutg an Ot^cer is a sidgect of rultwnai rryret. 

Theodore. SedgwitJc, 
SpeaJur of the house of Repre^aitativej. 
Thomaa Jefferson, 
Vice Preeident of the. Utiiltd Stales and PrefiderU of the Senate. 
Approved Afardi ss'^laoo. John Adivnf, 

Prestde/U of the United States. 

Thomas Truxtun. 

(The Medal and Congressional letter presented to him after the action between the 
Constellation and Lu I'engeance.) 



Truxtun and the Constellation 193 

and more feeble as the long hours wore away. After 
five hours of most desperate struggle, the stranger 
was defeated. Indeed, twice during the night she had 
struck her colors, but her action being unknown 
on the Constellation, the combat had continued. 
There was no doubt of the matter now, however; she 
was not only defeated but silenced. The last shot of 
the battle came from the Constellation. 

The moon had set now for some time and, save for 
the lights on the ships, the sea was in total darkness. 
The shining stars in the quiet heavens above them 
looked down upon a scene of desolation and horror. 
Forty of the Constellation's men were dead or wound- 
ed out of her crew of three hundred and ten, and there 
were no less than one hvmdred and sixty casualties 
out of a crew of three hundred and thirty on the decks 
of the hapless Frenchman — a fearful proportion ! The 
rigging and spars of the latter were more or less intact, 
but her hull was fearfully wrecked ; she had received 
nearly two hundred solid shot therein, and she was 
almost in a sinking condition, her decks resembling a 
slaughter-pen. 

As the smoke drifted away, the Constellation was 
headed for the stranger, to range alongside and take 
possession, when it was discovered that every shroud 
and stay supporting her mainmast had been carried 
away, and the mast which had been badly wounded 
under the top was tottering with the swaying of the 
ship. The men in the top were under the command of 
Midshipman James Jarvis, a little reefer, only thirteen 
years old. The boy was worthy of his ship and captain. 
One of the older seamen in the top had warned him that 
the mast must certainly fall and had advised him to 
abandon his post while there was yet time. The lad 



194 American Fights and Fighters 

heroically refused saying that they must remain at 
their stations, and if the mast went they would have 
to go with it. Before the crew, who were working des- 
perately, could secure it or save it, it crashed over the 
side and carried with it to instant death little Jarvis 
and all the men with him in the top except one. The 
action of young Jarvis was as great an act of individ- 
ual heroism as was ever recorded on the sea. Taken 
in connection with his extreme youth, it is even more 
remarkable than the more famous devotion of young 
Casablanca on the Orient at the Battle of the Nile. 

Taking advantage of the delay and confusion thus 
caused, the surrendered French ship made sail and 
slowly faded away in the blackness of the night. By 
the time the wreck had been cleared, she was lost to 
sight, and in the morning could nowhere be seen. 
She turned up at Curagoa a few days later in a sinking 
condition. The Constellation ran for Jamaica to re- 
pair damages and refit. The French ship proved to 
be the frigate La Vengeance of fifty-two guns, throw- 
ing one thousand one hundred and fifteen pounds 
of shot as against the Constellation's fifty guns, 
throwing only eight hundred and twenty-six pounds 
of shot ! The difference in favor of La Vengeance 
over the Constellation was about the same as the 
difference in favor of the Constellation over L'Li- 
surgente, but in spite of that the Constellation had 
proven the victor. 

Truxtun received a medal from Congress, a magnif- 
icent piece of plate valued at six hundred guineas from 
Lloyds, in England, swords, prize money and other 
rewards. 

Little Jarvis was not forgotten, as the following 
resolution of Congress will show. 



Truxtun and the Constellation 195 

^'Resolved, that the conduct of James Jarvis, a 
midshipman in said frigate, who gloriously 
preferred certain death to an abandonment 
of his post, is deserving of the highest praise, 
and that the loss of so promising an officer is 
a subject of national regret." 

That is certainly honor enough for any one boy or 
man, and I believe he is the only youth so distinguished 
by Congress. 

L'Lisiirgcntc had been taken into the service of the 
United States, and one summer morning in 1799 she 
sailed away into the ocean under command of Captain 
Patrick Fletcher, and never came back again. No tid- 
ings of her end after she left the Capes of Virginia were 
ever received and her fate is one of the untold secrets 
of the teeming sea. 

Six months after her action with the Constellation 
the unfortunate La Vengeance was captured, after an- 
other desperate battle, in which she lost over a hundred 
men killed and wounded, by the British thirty-eight- 
gun frigate Seine. In both instances she was beaten 
by an inferior force. The Constellation still flies the 
American flag and hundreds of future admirals (and 
some who are not, and never will be, admirals, includ- 
ing the writer) learned their seamanship upon her 
when she was the practise ship of the Naval Academy ; 
playing at war upon those decks which had resounded 
with the roar of the guns in those half forgotten days 
when she so successfully fought the enemies of her 
country under the command of brave old Truxtun and 
his gallant men. 



American Fights and Fighters 

Part IV 

WAR WITH TRIPOLI 

1802-1 805 



DECATUR AND THE 
PHILADELPHIA 



The most romantic and brilliant figure in the naval 
annals of our country is Stephen Decatur. Born in 
1779, while this country was in the throes of the 
Revolution, his ancestry French and Irish, always a 
brilliant combination, he early set the pace for daring 
and courage and consistently kept up to his own mark 
until the end. Most of our other naval heroes gained 
their immortality by a single fight. Decatur's name is 
associated during three wars with a half dozen ex- 
ploits and encounters of the greatest brilliancy, any 
one of which would give him eternal fame. 

Think of his dash and desperate courage in the hand 
to hand fighting with the gunboats at Tripoli, his de- 
cision and firmness in wringing a treaty of peace from 
the Dey of Algiers subsequently ; the splendid battle in 
which he captured the Macedonian while in command 
of the frigate United States in the War of 18 12; the 
bold way in which he dashed out of New York Har- 
bor in the face of a heavy blockade later on in the Presi- 
dent; his smashing fight with the frigate £nc?3;wf on, and 
his persistent and desperate efifort to escape in a disabled 
ship from a whole British squadron after that action; 

199 



200 American Fights and Fighters 

his intrepidity in several personal encounters in the 
shape of duels — unfortunately so prevalent at that 
time — in one of which he finally met his death. Add 
to this catalogue his burning love of country, his un- 
quenchable determination to stand up for his service 
and his flag on every occasion, at whatever cost; his 
famous sentiment, "My country! may she always be 
right; but right or wrong, my country!" — why, any 
one of these things is enough to have given him im- 
mortality, any one would put him upon a plane of equal- 
ity with the other great captains of his time. But the 
event which, more than any of those cited, has en- 
deared him to his countrymen, and to all who love the 
brave, is that exploit which Lord Nelson, than whom 
there could be no better judge, called "the most bold 
and daring act of the age" — the cutting out of the 
Philadelphia. This occurred in the year 1804, in the 
war with the Barbary pirates. 

It is to the eternal glory of America that the United 
States, then a young, weak, struggling country, should 
have been the first among civilized powers to put down 
the frightful depredations of those brutal pirates with 
an iron hand. The nascent navy followed Scipio's 
famous maxim and carried the war into Africa, prose- 
cuting it there with such vigor and success that, when 
the conflict was over, the ships of our country alone, 
among the the nations of the world, sailed the Medi- 
terranean untroubled by these ruthless corsairs ; while 
merchant vessels of other countries pursued their way 
before these licensed blackmailers in fear and trem- 
bling, unless protected by ignoble tribute, until our ex- 
ample of resistance was followed. The war not only 
resulted in the protection of the merchant marine, but 
it proved the nursery of the navy as well, and in it 



Decatur and the Philadelphia 201 

were laid those foundations of skill and ability which 
were so costly to Great Britain, and so useful to our 
country in later days. The history of the little war fair- 
ly bristles with glorious achievements, and the names 
of stout old Commodore Preble and his efficient sub- 
ordinates, Stewart, Hull, Bainbridge, Somers, Wads- 
worth, Trippe, Sterrett, Lawrence, Macdonough, Mor- 
ris, Jones, Israel, and many others, constitute a galaxy 
of heroes whom it would be hard to equal, much less 
surpass. The brightest name among them all, how- 
ever, was that of Stephen Decatur. He had been but 
five years in the naval service, to which he traditional- 
ly belonged, as his father had been a naval officer 
during the Revolution, and his brother and other 
relatives were in the service with him, when he was 
sent to Tripoli at the age of twenty-four as one of Pre- 
ble's "schoolboy captains." 

The frigate Fhxladdphla, 38, one of the best of her 
class, had been blockading the harbor of Tripoli in the 
fall of 1803. She was under the command of William 
Bainbridge, an officer of great professional skill and 
high merit, who subsequently distinguished himself in 
the War of 1812 in the old Constitution, by his capture 
of the frigate Java. One morning, while chasing a 
cruiser or blockade runner hard in shore, she ran upon 
an hitherto unknown and uncharted reef. Her guns 
were thrown overboard, the foremast cut away, the 
ship otherwise lightened, and every effort made to 
force her off, but with no success, as she finally bilged. 
When in that helpless condition and unable to make 
any resistance she was captured by a swarm of Tri- 
politan gunboats. 

In spite of the efforts which had been made by 
Bainbridge to render her unseaworthy, the Tripoli- 



202 American Fights and Fighters 

tans, unhampered Ijy any American vessels of war, 
for none were present, succeeded in hauling her 
off the rocks, patching her up, and taking her into 
the harbor of Tripoli, where she was anchored under 
the guns of the Bashaw's castle. Her guns had been 
recovered and replaced in her ports. This capture mate- 
rially altered the situation. The addition of this heavy 
frigate to the other defenses of the place rendered it 
impossible for the small American squadron to attack 
with any degree of success. It might be said that the 
whole war depended, for the present at any rate, upon 
the Philadelphia. 

Decatur conceived the idea of cutting her out, and 
applied to Commodore Preble for the privilege of do- 
ing so. The notion seems to have occurred to several 
other officers independently about the same time, one 
of whom was Stewart, and probably to Preble himself 
as well ; but careful investigation inclines me to believe 
in the priority of Decatur's conception. At any rate 
his offer was accepted and arrangements were at once 
made to carry it out. The Mastico, a little ketch of 
about fifty tons burden was ready to hand. She was 
a vessel peculiar to the Mediterranean, with two masts, 
the forward one set well amidships, leaving a long, 
clear space forward upon which bombs were frequently 
mounted, and the after one, the smaller, both carrying 
fore and aft sails; the boat was provided with sweeps 
or enormous oars, used in fair or calm weather. She 
had been captured recently by the Enterprise, at that 
time under the command of Decatur himself. 

The ketch had been built by the French and used as 
a bomb vessel in Egypt, where she had been captured 
1)y the English at the Battle of Aboukir, and by them 
presented to the Tripolitans — a Greek gift as it after- 



Decatur and the Philadelphia 203 

ward turned out! When she was captured by Decatur 
she had just left the harbor with a lot of female 
slaves on board, a present to the Sultan of Turkey. 
When she returned she carried quite a different crew. 
She was small and in every way a miserable vessel, 
but the best for their purpose that could be had. 

As soon as he had received his orders from Preble, 
to whose wise planning their success was largely due, 
Decatur mustered his crew on the Enterprise, explained 
the hazardous nature of the venture, and called for vol- 
unteers. Every officer and man at once clamored to 
be taken. From the Enterprise Lieutenants James 
Lawrence, Joseph Bainbridge, Jonathan Thorn, Sur- 
geon L. Heerman, and Midshipman Thomas Macdon- 
ough (late of the Philadelphia, and escaping capture 
on account of being on detached service when she was 
lost), with sixty-two of the more active men of the 
crew, were chosen. To these were added Midshipmen 
Izard, Rowe, Charles Morris, Lewis, and Davis from 
the Constitution, and a Sicilian pilot named Salvator 
Catalino. Charles Stewart, who commanded the war 
brig Siren, and who as Decatur's superior officer was 
nominally in command of the whole expedition, though 
the details and the execution of the matter were entire- 
ly left to Decatur, was ordered to accompany the ketch, 
which had been re-named, and most appropriately, the 
Intrepid, on her adventure. 

One hour after receiving notice they left Syracuse, 
Italy, on February 3, 1804, and six days after, late in 
the afternoon, appeared off the mouth of the harbor 
of Tripoli. The wind was rising and the sea breaking 
over the bar off the mouth of the harbor with such 
force that Midshipman Morris and the pilot, who had 
been sent to reconnoiter in one of the cutters, reported 



204 American Fights and Fighters 

that it would be difficult to get in with safety, and im- 
possible to get out, so the two vessels reluctantly 
decided to wait for better weather. It came on to blow 
tremendously almost immediately thereafter, and for 
six days the two little boats beat up against an awful 
storm. The situation on the ketch was most critical. 
No provision had been made for so extended a stay; 
there were no places in which the men could adequate- 
ly shelter themselves from the fury of the storm and the 
cold wintry rain; the captain and three lieutenants oc- 
cupied the small cabin, the midshipmen and marines 
slept upon a small platform, the sailors on the water 
and provision casks. The salt bacon, their only provi- 
sion, spoiled, and as the ship was infested with vermin 
from her previous occupants, their situation was as 
uncomfortable as it was precarious. The men, like 
true American jackies, kept their spirits up, however, 
and endured the hardships cheerfully. 

After six days of labor the gale abated and the two 
ships determinedly made for the harbor once more to 
carry out their astonishing purpose. After getting as 
near as she dared, for fear of discovering her charac- 
ter to the enemy, the Siren hove to, about two miles 
from the harbor mouth, and the Intrepid went on 
alone. Before she parted with the Siren Midship- 
man Anderson and eight men were sent aboard her 
by Stewart to supplement the crew. It had been 
arranged that the attack of the ketch should be sup- 
ported by the Siren's boats, but delay occurring, 
Decatur decided not to wait for them, remarking to 
his officers, "The fewer the number the greater the 
honor!" It was still early evening, and with beating 
hearts the men on the brig watched the little ketch 
speed into the harbor toward the Philadelphia. 



Decatur and the Philadelphia 205 

The frigate lay swinging to the wind under the guns 
of the Bashaw's castle, and protected on every side by 
the powerful land batteries and forts, mounting over 
one hundred and fifteen heavy guns, beside number- 
less smaller pieces, and manned by twenty-five thousand 
men. On either side, reaching toward the entrance 
of the harbor, like the horns of a wide crescent, were 
arranged three smart cruisers, two large galleys and 
nineteen gunboats. The group of vessels resembled an 
open mouth, at the back of which was the Philadelphia. 
Into these jaws of death Decatur boldly sent the Intrep- 
id. The breeze being still fresh, though dying, drags 
composed of buckets, spare spars and canvas were cast 
astern to diminish the speed of the vessel coming on 
too rapidly, as any attempt to take in sail would have 
been suspicious. As the hours of the evening w^ore 
away, the wind fell and she crept slowly up the 
harbor. 

The evening was balmy and pleasant, the moon 
in that tropic land had flooded the heavens with mystic 
light, bathing the minarets and towers of the sleeping 
town upon the shores with silver splendor; lights 
twinkled here and there in the white walled city, and 
the Philadelphia herself was brilliantly illuminated by 
long rows of battle-lanterns which sent beams of yel- 
low lustre to mingle with the soft moonlight upon the 
sparkling water. The frigate's foremast had been cut 
away in the effort to get her off the reef, her topmasts 
were housed and the lower yards lay athwart ship on 
the gunwales; the lower rigging was set up and as it 
was afterward learned, all her guns were shotted. A 
heavy crew, probably three hundred and fifty men, was 
on board. 

What must have been the sensations of the men in 



2o6 American Fights and Fighters 

that little ketch as they glided along? To what were 
they going? Destruction, victory, what would be the 
end of it ? By Decatur's orders, the men had concealed 
themselves by lying flat upon the decks, behind the 
bulwarks, rails, masts, bitts, etc., and only a few of 
the seamen, dressed like Sicilian sailors, with Decatur 
and the pilot aft to con the ship, and an old battle- 
scarred veteran at the wheel, were visible. Eighty- 
three men in a little ramshackle boat, a cockle-shell, 
were going into a harbor defended by scientifically 
constructed and well-armed batteries, to attempt to 
take a thirty-eight-gun frigate full manned and armed 
and surrounded by a fleet of small boats carrying fifty 
to sixty more guns, all bearing upon the Philadelphia 
herself, in expectation of just such an attack; the at- 
tack itself to be delivered in the bright moonlight 
and in the early evening, about half after ten o'clock! . 

The very audacity of the conception strikes one with 
amazement, and to its boldness is largely due the im- 
munity the attackers enjoyed; that anybody should at- 
tempt such a thing was absolutely incredible! The 
thoughts of the young men doubtless went back to home 
and friends, sweethearts and wives, but, with the de- 
termination of heroes, they schooled their beating 
hearts, nerved their resolution, and stifled any sensa- 
tions of trepidation which might naturally possess 
them. 

As they approached the Philadelphia Decatur or- 
dered the seaman at the wheel to head the ketch for the 
bows of the latter ship, determining to lay his vessel 
athwart the hawse of the frigate and board from 
thence. As they drew near the Tripolitan hailed. By 
Decatur's direction the pilot answered that they were 
traders from Malta, who had lost their anchors in the 



Decatur and the Philadelphia 207 

recent storm and desired the privilege of riding by the 
Philadelphia for the night i. e., attaching their boat 
to the frigate's cables until morning. 

This not unusual request was granted as a matter 
of course, and after assuring the watchful Tripolitan 
that the brig in the offing, about which he had made 
inquiry, was an English schooner, the Transfer, 
the Siren's boat, which was swinging astern, was 
manned by the sailors upon the deck and a line carried 
forward to the port-sheet cable. At this moment a 
sudden shift of wind took the ketch aback and she 
hung motionless, directly in line with the frigate's bat- 
tery, and not forty yards away. The position was one 
fraught with the greatest danger. If they were discov- 
ered now they were lost. The pilot, however, by 
Decatur's orders, amused the enemy with descriptions 
of the cargo and sea gossip in his lingua Franca, the 
common language of the Mediterranean, until the boat 
got away, and the ketch feeling the breeze moved for- 
ward again. The coolness and resource of their young 
commander had saved them. The Tripolitans with 
ready kindness — soon to be ill-requited — had sent a 
boat of their own with a cable leading from the port 
quarter off which they desired the ketch to lie. With 
great presence of mind the Americans intercepted the 
boat and took the cable back to the ketch themselves. 
The two lines were fastened together and then passed 
in board, where the men, lying down on the deck, 
grasped it in their hands without rising and lustily 
hauled away, breasting the Intrepid steadily in toward 
the frigate. 

As the ketch gathered way, she shot into the moon- 
light between the shadows cast by the masts of the 
Philadelphia, when the Tripolitan commander at once 



2o8 American Fights and Fighters 

discovered her anchors hanging over her bows in plain 
sight. Indignant at the deception which had been 
practised, but still unsuspicious of the true character 
of the stranger, he ordered the fasts immediately to be 
cut ; at the same moment some of his crew discovered 
the men upon the decks of the ketch. The alarm was 
instantly given. The cry, "Americanos, Americanos," 
rang out over the water. The Americans sprang 
to their feet, and though the ketch at this time 
lay directly under the broadside of the Philadelphia, 
and could have been blown out of the water by her 
heavy guns, disregarding their peril in their wild de- 
sire for action after their long restraint, they gave 
such a pull upon the line that before it could be cut the 
ketch had sufficient way to strike the side of the Phil- 
adelphia, where eager hands at once made her fast. 
Not an order had been given nor a sound made. 

Decatur now shouted the command "boarders 
away," and sprang at the main chains. Midshipmen 
Morris and Laws, who were beside him, leaped for- 
ward at the same instant. Laws dashed in through a 
port, but the pistols in his boarding belt caught between 
the gun and the port-sill, the foot of Decatur slipped, 
and Charles Morris was the first man to stand upon the 
deck of the Philadelphia. A second after, the other 
two men were with him, and the rest of the crew 
poured in over the rail, and with cutlasses or boarding 
pikes, charged down upon the astonished Tripolitans. 
The weapons were cold steel, the watchword "Phila- 
delphia." No firearms were used, for Preble's strict 
orders had been to "carry all with the sword." 

Without cheers and with desperate energy the little 
band dashed at the masses of astonished and terrified 
men before them, and the whistle of the cutlasses, the 



Decatur and the Philadelphia 209 

ring of steel against steel, the thud of the pike as it 
buried itself in some beating heart, alone gave evidence 
of the fell purpose of the stern boarders. 

Their attack was pressed home with such vigor that 
the Americans could not be denied; forming a line from 
bulwark to bulwark they cleared the deck. After a 
short but fierce resistance, in which upward of twenty 
Tripolitans were killed, those remaining on the upper 
deck jumped overboard, where many of them were 
killed by Anderson and his boat crew, or were 
drowned ; others concealed themselves below to meet 
a worse fate later, A similar scene was en- 
acted upon the gun-deck by Lawrence, Bainbridge, 
Macdonough, and others, during and following the 
action above. Only the watchword in the darkness 
and excitement had prevented several of the Ameri- 
cans from attacking each other. In ten minutes the 
ship was captured. Not an American had been 
wounded, so far. 

Decatur would have given half his life to have 
brought her out, and many naval officers have be- 
lieved that he could have done so. It would have been 
a matter of extreme difficulty in face of the dangers, 
especially as there was not a yard crossed nor a sail 
bent ; and as he had received positive orders not to at- 
tempt it, he had to obey. The ketch had been filled 
with combustibles, and they were immediately passed 
on board. The crew had been divided into several 
different parties, and each body of men, under the di- 
rection of an officer, had been carefully instructed just 
what was to be done. With remarkable speed and 
order each group proceeded to its appointed station 
and, speedily arranging the inflammable matter, ap- 
plied the torch. 



2IO American Fights and Fighters 

So rapidly was this done that those charged with the 
duty of starting the fires below were almost cut off from 
escape by the flames and smoke from the conflagra- 
tion above. In less than thirty minutes the ship was on 
fire in every direction, and the Americans had re- 
gained the ketch ! Decatur was the last man to leave 
the Philadelphia. The bow-fast and the grapnels on the 
Intrepid were hastily cut, the sweeps manned, and in- 
stant endeavor was made to get clear. For some un- 
accountable reason, however, the ketch clung to the 
frigate. Broad sheets of flame came rushing out from 
the latter's ports and played over the deck of the In- 
trepid. The situation was serious. It was the most 
critical moment of the enterprise. All the powder on 
the Intrepid, in default of a magazine, was stored upon 
the deck, covered only by a tarpaulin, over which the 
flames were roaring. In another moment they would 
be blown up. They retained their presence of mind, 
however, and soon discovered that the stern-fast had 
not been cast off. Decatur and others sprang upon the 
taffrail in the midst of the flames, and as no axes were 
at hand, hacked the line asunder with their swords. The 
Intrepid was clear. After a few lusty strokes, which 
carried them a little distance away, the men stopped 
rowing and gave three hearty American cheers. They 
waited until success was achieved and then, in the midst 
of further danger, gave tongue to their emotions — a 
significant action ! 

At the same moment the startled Tripolitans awoke 
to life. The minutes of stupor with which they had 
witnessed the attack, which they hardly comprehended, 
gave place to energy. The rolling of the drums upon 
the shore mingled with the wild shouts and cries of the 
excited soldiery. Lights appeared upon the parapets 



Decatur and the Philadelphia 2 1 1 

and immediately the roar of a heavy gun, which sent a 
shell over the ketch, broke the silence. As if this had 
been a signal, every battery and every vessel in the 
harbor awoke to action and commenced a furious 
cannonade. 

Solid shot, shells, canister and grape shrieked and 
screamed in the air about the devoted Intrepid, casting 
up beautiful jets-d'eatt upon the surface of the bay, 
which the flames from the burning Philadelphia ren- 
dered as light as day. The Americans, having cheered 
to their hearts' content, bent to their oars, and with 
such energy as they probably never had used before, 
they speedily fled from the harbor. 

The spectacle they were leaving was one of awe 
inspiring magnificence. The frigate, from her long 
cruise in the tropic latitude, was as dry as paper, and 
burned like tinder. The flames ran up the lofty spars 
in lambent columns and clustered about the broad tops 
in rosy capitals of wavering and mysterious beauty. 
As the fire spread, the guns of her battery became 
heated, and in sullen succession they poured forth their 
messengers of death upon the harbor and the affrighted 
town toward which the starboard broadside bore. It 
was a death song and a last salute, for, as the eager 
watchers gazed in melancholy triumph upon the results 
of their own destructive handiwork, she drifted ashore 
and with a frightful explosion, which seemed to rend 
the heavens and surface the sky with fire, she blew up ! 
A moment of silence supervened, which was broken by 
the roar of the batteries resuming the cannonade. 

Strange to say, the Intrepid passed through the fusil- 
lade unharmed, one man being slightly wounded, and a 
grape shot passing through a sail ! The moon had 
set and the eager watchers on the Siren finally lost 



212 American Fights and Fighters 

track of the vessel in the darkness. Their burning 
anxiety as to her fate was not reheved until a boat 
dashed alongside and a manly figure, clad in a sailor's 
rough jacket, and grimed with smoke, sprang on 
board, triumphantly announcing their safe arrival. 
It was Decatur ! 



American Fights and Fighters 

Part V 

THE SECOND WAR WITH 
ENGLAND 

i8 1 2-1 815 



THE CONSTITUTION'S HARDEST 
FIGHT 



On December 29, 18 12, about nine o'clock in the morn- 
ing, the United States ship Constitution was lazily 
tossing to and fro in the long swell of the Atlantic 
Ocean, about thirty miles off the northeast coast of 
Brazil. She was carrying all plain sail, from royals 
down, and under the influence of a light breeze was 
gently shoving her mighty prow through the tumbling 
waters. Almost a month before, in company with the 
sloop-of-war Hornet, she had started on a cruise for 
the Pacific Ocean in the. hope that the ships might play 
havoc with the British East India trade. They were 
to be joined later at a certain rendezvous by the frig- 
ate Essc.r, Captain David Porter, and the little squad- 
ron was under the command of Commodore William 
Bainbridge, as fine a seaman and as bold a fighter as 
ever trod an American deck. The Hornet had been 
detached to blockade another British sloop-of-war, the 
Bonne Citoyenne, in the harbor of Bahia, and the 
Constitution was cruising off the coast while waiting 
for the Essex. 

Bainbridge was a most distinguished officer, high in 
rank and held in great consideration in the service. 

215 



2i6 American Fights and Fighters 

He was a veteran of the French and Tripolitan wars, 
and it was due to his arguments, coupled with those of 
the famous Charles Stewart, that the American ships 
at the beginning of the War of 1812 were allowed to 
get to sea wherever possible. It had been the plan of 
the authorities to dismantle the ships, never dreaming 
that they could cope with the gigantic and successful 
English navy, and it was only after the most urgent 
representations that Bainbridge and Stewart succeed- 
ed in changing the plan. There is therefore due to 
these men, from all Americans, a deep debt of grati- 
tude, for the War of 181 2 would have turned out very 
differently had it not been for the exploits of our ships, 
which laid in that period the foundation of the future 
naval greatness of our country. The successes of 
Manila and Santiago may be traced back to Bain- 
bridge and Stewart. Bainbridge had been an able but 
not hitherto a very lucky captain. In the war with 
France his ship had been captured, though by his ad- 
dress he had saved two other vessels from being taken 
at the same time. Subsequently he made a brilliant 
cruise in the Norfolk and performed some remarkable 
feats of seamanship and skill in blockading. During 
the Tripolitan War he had the misfortune to lose the 
Philadelphia, as we have seen, though without the 
slightest reflection being attached to him in any way, 
his conduct having been characterized by a court-mar- 
tial as exhibiting the highest degree of professional 
skill and courage. 

He was a man of striking personality, six feet high, 
and of splendid proportion as well. His spirit was as 
great as his body. While in command of an armed 
merchantman, on one occasion he captured an English 
war vessel of twice the size and armament of his own. 



The Constitution' s Hardest Fight 217 

When master of the merchant ship Hope, an Eng- 
lish ship-of-the-Hne took from him one of his men. 
He vowed that he would supply the place of the man 
from the next English ship he met and he did so. A 
bad man to tackle was Captain William Bainbridge 
on this bright, sunny morning, when at nine o'clock 
two sail were reported from the masthead. The larg- 
er of the two ships discovered to the windward at 
once set toward the C onstitution , the other made sail 
to escape. As the ships drew nearer it was seen that 
the escaping ship was a large merchantman, afterward 
known as the American ship William, a prize to the 
British frigate Java, which was the name of the war 
vessel sweeping gracefully down to the Constitution. 
The Jaz'a was commanded by Captain Henry Lam- 
bert. He was one of the most thorough seamen who 
ever handled a ship, and in every other way a man 
of deservedly high reputation. A brief catalogue of 
his exploits shows that he was an officer of the first 
quality. He was a man of proven courage and great 
hardihood as well, and he had under him one of the 
finest frigates in the British navy, originally the 
French frigate Rcnoinuicc, wdiich had been captured 
by the English almost as soon as she had been 
launched late in the previous year. She was a beauti- 
ful model and one of the swiftest vessels on the sea. 
Her destination was India, whither she was conveying 
a lieutenant-general, recently appointed Governor of 
Bombay, his staff, a naval captain, several other sea 
officers and a large number of supernumerary seameii, 
together with supplies to outfit a ship-of-the-line, the 
Cornzvallis, and two sloops-of-war. The total number 
of persons on board of her, therefore, was about four 
hundred and fifty. She was slightly smaller and not 



2i8 American Fights and Fighters 

quite so heavily armed as the Constitution, the propor- 
tion between them in efficiency being represented by 
about ten to nine — not a very material difference. 

The two ships sailed toward each other in the light 
breeze all the morning, each flying signals which the 
other was unable to comprehend. Bainbridge made his 
preparations for the expected battle with the greatest 
deliberation. He sent his men to dinner at the proper 
time, allowed them a comfortable smoke afterward, 
and then leisurely beat to quarters and luffed up to get 
into range. At two o'clock in the afternoon he plumped 
a shot from a long gun across the forefoot of the Java, 
whereupon the English ship showed colors from every 
masthead, and Bainbridge followed up his introduction 
with a broadside, most of the shot from which cut the 
water around the English ship and did no damage. The 
broadside was returned with effect by the Java, for, 
strange to say, it was better aimed than that of the 
Constitution, and several of the latter's men were 
killed and wounded. It must have been luck rather 
than skill, for after that the English gunnery was exe- 
crable! The firing on both sides now became rapid 
and continuous, and both vessels sailed along in the 
light wind covered with clouds of smoke. The Eng- 
lish had the weather-gage, and the Java was very 
much faster than the Constitution which, as she had 
been cruising without going into dry-dock for a long 
time, had a very foul bottom covered with weeds. 
Bainbridge, who had been watching the flame-pierced 
cloud of smoke off to port, noticed that the fire of the 
enemy seemed to draw forward, and he was not sur- 
prised when he saw the Java suddenly shoot out of the 
smoke, put her helm hard up, and make a broad sweep 
to cross his bows and rake. He followed her manoeu- 



The Constitution' s Hardest Fight 219 

vers with the quickness of thought itself, and the 
Constitution, admirably handled, wore swiftly around 
on the other tack and escaped the threatened peril. 

The Java still preserved the weather-gage and the 
two ships sailed together as before, only heading the 
other way and shifting their crews to the other battery. 
The superior speed of the Java enabled her to fore- 
reach on the Constitution a second time, and as soon 
as he had gained sufficient distance Lambert put his 
helm hard up again and tried once more to cross the 
Constitution's bows. As before, Bainbridge was too 
quick for him, and the two ships repeated their pre- 
vious evolution, wearing and heading in the opposite 
direction again, shifting batteries and keeping up a 
hot and continuous fire. Lambert still maintained his 
weather-gage in spite of the skilful efforts of the Con- 
stitution to cut him out of it. During all this man- 
CEUvering whenever the guns bore they were fought 
furiously, different batteries being engaged in alter- 
nation. Whenever the Constitution luffed up to close 
the Java attempted to rake her, but the aim of her men 
was now so poor that they made little use of the op- 
portunities afforded them, and practically no damage 
was done the Constitution. Finally, in desperation at 
his inability to get near the swift English ship, Bain- 
bridge determined to set his foresail and mainsail, the 
action having been fought hitherto under the topsails 
and topgallant sails, and boldly headed for the Eng- 
lish frigate to close and run her aboard. Necessarily 
in doing this he presented his bow fair and square to 
her broadside, thus deliberately taking a dangerous 
risk. It was a superb opportunity for the Java to de- 
liver a smashing blow in the face of the Constitution, 
but the shot of her broadside, except one bullet from a 



220 American Fights and Fighters 

nine-pounder, went wild. If the Java had led down 
on the Constitiitiofi that way she would have been cut 
to pieces. 

The Constitution now drew to within pistol-shot 
distance of the Java's starboard quarter, and the fire of 
her heavy battery at close range was fearfully effec- 
tive. Under the additional pressure of the fore and 
mainsails, Bainbridge in his turn now forged ahead, 
the Java at the same time losing her jib-boom and 
bowsprit at the cap. As the Constitution luffed again 
to lay the Java aboard, the latter put her helm down 
and tacked ship, when the Constitution immediately 
wore, the two ships thus circling away from each 
other. Owing to the loss of her headsail, the Java paid 
off very slowly and the Constitution crossed her stern 
at a distance of a cable's length, pouring in a tremen- 
dous raking broadside the while. Both ships now ran 
off with the wind free, the Java being handled beauti- 
fully and still preserving the valuable weather-gage. 
Though exchanging broadsides continually, the firing 
of the American was at last proving much more disas- 
trous than that of the Englishman. The Java's rigging 
was cut to pieces and her masts were seriously wounded. 
Unable to stand this exchange of shots in which his 
disadvantage was manifest, Lambert determined to 
board. It was, in this instance, the last resource of 
the British captain. Taking advantage of his weather- 
gage, he boldly put his helm up and came swooping 
down for the Constitution. His boarders swarmed 
forward ready to spring, Lambert himself preparing to 
lead the charge. 

As he headed toward the American he was coolly 
raked again and again by the latter's guns. The 
carnage was fearful, but Lambert resolutely held 
on — he had to keep on or strike his flag. Before he 



The Constitution' s Hardest Fieht 221 



to' 



reached the Constitution, by her fearful fire his main 
topmast was carried away at the cap and the fore- 
mast just below the cat-harpens. The wreck fell upon 
the deck and in the water, dragging the head of the 
Java away from the Constitution, which still kept up 
its merciless resistless fire. As the two ships neared 
each other the stump of the Java's bowsprit caught for 
a moment in the mizzen rigging of the American, but 
the frigates were not yet in contact and it was impos- 
sible for the English to board. The American top- 
men and marines now poured a tremendous rifle fire 
into the ranks of the British grouped forward, while 
the carronades below kept smashing the English ship 
in the bows. It was an awful moment — for the Java 
— but the ships finally separated and the Constitution 
kept away to avoid being raked, as the bowsprit of the 
Java swung slowly across her taffrail, and the Eng- 
lish ship headed for the south. The two vessels now 
ran off parallel to each other, the Java, marvelous to 
relate, still keeping the weather-gage ! The ships again 
drew side by side, but the Constitution, having lost 
none of her sails or spars, was now the swifter and 
she ranged ahead of the Java. Bainbridge then wore 
his ship, came up under the quarter, raking the helpless 
Java again, shot past her stern, wore a second time, 
and at a quarter past three came alongside and renewed 
the conflict. His seamanship was simply masterly. 
He had been wounded early in the action by a musket 
ball in the hip, but, though bleeding seriously, he had 
remained at his post. Leaning over the wheel, he con- 
tinued the direction of the action. A little later a 
heavy shot from the Java carried away the Constitu- 
tion's wheel and drove one of the copper bolts with 
which it was fastened deep into the thigh of the com- 
mander. It was an excruciatingly painful wound, but 



222 American Fights and Fighters 

he still persistently refused to go below, so he had the 
wound dressed on deck and continued to direct the 
manoeuvers of this wonderful battle while in the hands 
of the surgeon ! It was an exhibition of supreme cour- 
age and resolution. The Constitution thereafter, for 
the greater part of the action, was steered by relieving 
tackles, word being passed below by a line of midship- 
men ! 

About this time Captain Lambert was dreadfully 
and mortally wounded by a ball from the American 
maintop which shattered his breast-bone and passed 
through his lung. The first lieutenant, Chads, took 
command and, assisted by the supernumerary naval 
officers, continued the combat with unabated resolution. 
The wreck of the masts of the Jaz'a, which had not yet 
been cut away, hung over her starboard side and caught 
fire with almost every discharge of the battery. Chads 
himself was severely wounded, but remained in com- 
mand. The British fought on with desperate courage 
and heroically continued their now hapless battle. The 
vessels were almost in contact and the Americans 
deliberately knocked the remaining spars out of the 
helpless English frigate. The mizzenmast was cut 
away, the stump of the foremast cut down further still, 
and all her guns were silenced. At five minutes after 
four the Constitution, under the impression that the 
Jai'a had struck, as no flag was flying, concluded that 
the battle was ended. Bainbridge drew off, therefore, 
in accordance with the common practice of the Ameri- 
cans after action when alone on seas swarming with 
British cruisers, to re-reeve the cut gear and make nec- 
essary repairs. An hour after, fit for another battle, she 
stood toward the old enemy. The English had pluck- 
ily hoisted an ensign, but as the Constitution, in grim 
silence, crossed the forefoot of the helpless, rolling, 




S -i 



The Constitution' s Hardest Fight 223 

dismasted hulk of the Java, deliberately taking a posi- 
tion in which she could have raked her to pieces, the 
flag of the latter was struck. 

There was not a single spar left standing except the 
stump of the mainmast and the stump of the bowsprit. 
At 5.25 P.M. Lieutenant Parker boarded the frigate 
and received the surrender. The actual fighting time, 
including the manoeuvering, had been about an hour 
and forty minutes, the action having been protracted 
by the brilliant seamanship of both captains. Lambert 
had never lost the weather-gage until the end of the 
battle, he had made the best possible use of his superior 
speed and handiness, and it was only the most consum- 
mate ability on the part of Bainbridge which had 
saved the Constitution from being raked again and 
again. The loss on the Java was sixty killed and one 
hundred and two wounded, on the Constitution twelve 
were killed and twenty-two wounded, the heaviest loss 
she ever sustained in action. The Constitution went 
into the action with her royal yards across, and came 
out of it with everything standing, while the Java had 
been cut to pieces ! 

Some little incidents of the battle are worth record- 
ing. Two brothers named Cheever were among the 
crew of the Constitution. One of them was killed 
early in the fight, the other mortally wounded at the 
close. He was lying upon the deck when he was told 
that the other ship had struck. In spite of his desperate 
wound he immediately lifted himself up and gave three 
cheers, expiring with the last cheer. On the Java 
were two boys, twin brothers, midshipmen on their first 
cruise. They were both killed, the last one begging 
that he might die under the English flag, which was 
spread over him by his kind-hearted conquerors. 

Bainbridge's treatment of his prisoners was every- 



224 American Fights and Fighters 

thing which could be expected from so high-minded 
and courteous a gentleman, and Lieutenant-General 
Hislop, the captured governor aforesaid, presented him 
with a sword in token of gratitude for his kind- 
ness. Owing to the shattered condition of the Java 
and their great distance from the United States, Bain- 
bridge determined to blow her up. The unfortunate 
Lambert, who had been delirious most of the time 
since receiving his frightful wound, muttering and 
moaning over the loss of his ship, which evidently 
preyed upon his mind, was removed with the greatest 
care in the midst of a heavy sea to the Constitution, 
the whole ship's company looking on in strained anx- 
iety till the removal was afifected. Bainbridge, being 
informed that the English captain was enjoying a lucid 
moment or two, immediately caused himself to be car- 
ried by two of his officers, his wound preventing him 
from walking, to the cot of the dying Lambert which 
had been placed upon the quarter-deck. When he 
reached his whilom enemy he gave his sword back to 
Lambert, laying it on the cot with the hilt by the dying 
man's nerveless hand. Lambert was so weak that he 
could only look his gratitude. The wounded Ameri- 
can supported in the arms of his officers, and the dying 
Englishman on the cot on the grim, blood-stained deck 
of the war-ship, make one of the sweet pictures of 
American history, and the mind loves to dwell upon 
this tender action of the great-hearted and heroic Bain- 
bridge. It seems to me, that in such little occasions as 
this, we may found our hope that war and its horrors 
will some day vanish from among the children of men. 
After the war was over some English nautical ex- 
perts were inspecting the Constitution. "Well," said 
one them at the close of his visit, "your ship seems to 



The Constitution' s Hardest Fight 225 

be absolutely perfect, but as I must make some criti- 
cism, I will say that you have a very ugly wheel for 
so beautiful a vessel." "Yes," said the American offi- 
cer to whom he was speaking, "it is ugly. We lost our 
wheel in the action with the Java and, after the battle 
was over, we replaced it with hers, and somehow we 
have never cared to change it !" 

From the point of view of seamanship, tactics and 
gunnery, this battle was one of the finest ever fought. 
Lambert, however, handled his ship quite as brilliantly 
as Bainbridge had done, and the action was decided 
by the superior gunnery of the American. I do not 
suppose that the Americans were any better gunners 
naturally than the British. Both ships had been out 
about the same time, but during five weeks the Java's 
men had never engaged in a single target practice, 
while the Americans were frequently given an oppor- 
tunity for perfecting themselves in that necessary req- 
uisite of a successful man-o'-war's-iman ; in fact the 
English had only fired six blank broadsides in the 
whole of their cruise, had little or no drill, other than 
the ordinary routine of the ship, while the Americans 
were exercised and drilled morning, noon and night! 
Drill, discipline, gun practice told then as it told in our 
recent war, and as it will tell in other wars in the fu- 
ture ; aye, as it tells even in the daily affairs of so-called 
peaceful life. 

No man should stand higher than Bainbridge in our 
naval history. I look upon him possibly more than 
any other man as the "father" of the American navy. 
Without his determined pleading there would have 
been no naval war in 1812 and England would still be 
the undisputed mistress of the sea. 



THE NIAGARA CAMPAIGN 



I. CHIPPEWA 

For fierce, hard, desperate fighting, no army which has 
ever upheld the prestige of American arms, was ever 
more distinguished than that commanded by Major- 
General Jacob Brown, in the year 1814, when he 
made his famous campaign on the Canadian side of 
the Niagara River, sometimes called the Niagara cam- 
paign. Nothing particular eventuated from that cam- 
paign — it had no result except to discourage the 
British, give them a more healthy respect for the Amer- 
ican regular and to encourage the Americans corres- 
pondingly — but while it was in progress it was marked 
by several sanguinary and desperate battles, in which 
were displayed as cool courage, as pretty fighting and 
as brilliant tactics, as were ever exhibited upon a bat- 
tle field. General Brown seems to have been a very 
capable and determined fighter ; although his glory has 
been almost obscured by the more brilliant reputation 
gained by Winfield Scott, his principal brigadier, he 
deserves to be held in high remembrance by his coun- 
trymen as a sturdy, courageous and successful soldier. 
The land engagements during the war prior to this 
campaign had not reflected any great credit upon either 

226 



The Niagara Campaign 227 

British or American combatants. The armies on both 
sides were inferior in quahty, and the leadership was 
poor ; it anything the honors were with the British. 

General Scott, who had shown his daring and capac- 
ity on several occasions, in conjunction with General 
Brown, who had also exhibited great gallantry and 
skill, had seen that the pressing needs of their country- 
men were more thorough drill, more rigid discipline 
and some adequate teaching in military tactics, of 
which they were mainly ignorant. During the win- 
ter and spring of 18 14 they had instructed the men 
of the little army of regulars they commanded in the 
most thorough manner ; the drills occupying long hours 
daily, the men grumbled and rebelled as usual, as much 
as they dared, until they got in action and saw the 
value of it all. It is said that there was but one book on 
military tactics, a copy of a French work, ui the army ; 
they made good use of it, however, for Scott translated 
it and established a regular school of instruction for the 
higher officers, who communicated what they learned 
to their subordinates, and they in turn to the men. 
The labors of them all were arduous and unceasing 
and, as the summer dawned, the painstaking and hard 
working commanders were conscious that they had an 
army under their direction at last. They needed one ; the 
British had also waked up to the situation and larger 
and better forces, veterans of Wellington's command, 
had at last been despatched to this country to end 
matters. 

General Brown planned a campaign on the west bank 
of the Niagara River which he hoped would result in 
the seizure of all the British posts in the peninsula be- 
tween Lakes Ontario and Erie, after which he trusted 
that, with the cooperation of Commodore Chauncey, 



228 American Fights and Fighters 

who commanded the naval forces on the lakes, he might 
successfully possess himself of Canada, which was the 
dream of the American soldier in this war. His little 
force consisted of two small brigades of regular sol- 
diers of three regiments each, under the command 
of Brigadier-Generals Winfield Scott and Eleazer W. 
Ripley, each numbering about fifteen hundred men ; 
in addition he had another brigade of about one thou- 
sand Pennsylvania and New York militia under 
Brigadier-General Peter B. Porter. There was 
also a small train of artillery comprising Ritchie's 
and Towson's batteries under Major Hindman, and 
a squadron of cavalry, in all but little more than 
four thousand men of all arms. It was a compact, 
handy, well-officered, well-drilled, little force. Early 
in the morning of July 3, 18 14, the army which had 
assembled at Buffalo and Black Rock, began to cross 
the Niagara River. 

The English had begun the erection of a small work 
called Fort Erie opposite Buffalo; it was then garri- 
soned by one hundred and fifty men. Scott's brigade 
crossed above, and Ripley's below it, and the fort, 
which was immediately invested, surrendered in the 
afternoon of the same day without making much of 
a defense. The main body of the British forces in 
the peninsula, numbering then about three thousand 
men, was encamped at Chippewa, a village situated 
near the great falls, about sixteen miles above Fort 
Erie. Major-General Riall, who commanded it, was an 
Irishman of no great ability and of slender military 
capacity, but of very large means, who had attained 
his rank mainly through the pernicious purchase sys- 
tem. He was a man of undoubted courage, but as a 
commander he was decidedly inferior — another wood- 
en pole in a cocked hat! 



The Niagara Campaign 229 

On the morning of the fourth of July, the American 
array was put in motion. During the advance of fif- 
teen miles up the river, which was led by Scott's 
brigade, there was constant and heavy skirmishing 
with Pearson's brigade which Riall had sent down to 
relieve the fort, and which had arrived too late. The 
English were astonished at the skill and the courage 
of the American advance until, as they said, they re- 
membered what day it was — they were to find out soon 
that all days were alike to that little army when it came 
to fighting! Late in the evening Scott's brigade had 
reached a little stream called the Chippewa River, 
behind which Riall's camp had been previously estab- 
lished. Brown, wdth Ripley's brigade and Porter's 
volunteers and the Indian auxiliaries under Red Jack- 
et, was some miles in the rear. To attack the strong 
w^orks of the camp would be impossible, so the pur- 
suit was given over and Scott's brigade moved back 
to the south bank of a little brook called Street's 
Creek, where it pitched its tents for the night. Ripley's 
brigade was some miles further back, and Porter's 
militia lay refused on Scott's left flank. 

On the morning of July fifth Porter was instructed 
to advance on the enemy's right, with orders to push 
through the wood beyond Scott's position to try to 
drive back parties of English scouts and Indians who 
would harass the American advance. The duty was 
gallantly performed until early in the afternoon, when 
the skirmishers were met by the enemy advancing in 
force. Brown, who had been carefully observing the 
scene from a distant and commanding hill, saw an im- 
mense cloud of dust rising over the plain between the 
Chippew'a River and Street's Creek. Rapid firing ap- 
prised him that Porter was heavily engaged. He at 
once sent orders to Ripley to advance to the support 



230 American Fights and Fighters 

of tlie first brigade and then galloped forward to 
Scott's position. That gallant officer was entirely ig- 
norant of the close proximity of the British, and had 
just made arrangements to lead his men across the 
bridge over the creek in order to have a dress parade 
on the open plain before tliem ! He could hardly 
believe Brown's statement that his parade bade fair to 
become a battle. However, he welcomed the opportu- 
nity w^ith alacrity, and made all speed to cross the 
creek. 

Porter, after making a gallant defense against the 
whole British army led by Riall in person, had at last 
fallen back. y\s the British came out of tlie wood 
they discovered Scott's brigade marching across the 
bridge. The American army was uniformed in gray. 
There had been a great scarcity of blu^ cloth and the 
quartermaster at Buffalo offered to provide gray, of 
which he had a large supply on hand ; Brown and 
wScott had accepted his offer and consequently the us- 
ual blue uniform was mainly conspicuous by its ab- 
sence. In honor of this campaign, by the way, the 
memory of the gray uniform has been perpetuated in 
the dress of the West Point Cadets, which has since 
that time been of the same gray color. Scott was a 
great stickler for the pomp and circumstance of glori- 
ous war — he used to be called "Old Fuss and Feathers" 
by the rank and file — and, in fact, he and his officers 
had agreed to make this campaign in full, fig — cocked 
hat, rosettes, epaulets, sashes, and so on ! Consequent- 
ly when the red-coated British veterans saw the gray- 
coated, full dressed American regulars advancing, 
Riall remarked that they were nothing but Buffalo 
militia, and that they would have an easy victory! He 
opened fire upon the Americans at once from his bat- 



The Niagara Campaign 231 

tery of nine guns posted on the high road; Towson, 
opposite him on the right, returned the fire with his 
small battery of three guns, which he used with great 
effect. The Americans in the face of the British fire 
crossed the bridge and deployed with the steadiness of 
veterans, undeceiving Riall at once as to their char- 
acter. 

Scott detached Major Jessup in command of the 
Twenty-fifth regiment, to make a fiank movement 
through the woods, while he sent the rest of his men 
straight for the enemy. Jessup executed his movement 
with alacrity and skill, and while the engagement was 
being hotly contested in the front, he fell upon the right 
flank of the British. Meanwhile Colonel Leavenworth 
had massed upon the left flank of the enemy, and assist- 
ed by Towson executed a furious charge upon it. These 
attacks were stubbornly resisted for a time, especially 
on the right flank where Jessup was. The men of the 
Twenty-fifth regiment had become somewhat disor- 
ganized through the dash and impetuosity of their wild 
charge, and as the British advanced to deliver a coun- 
tercharge, Jessup deliberately re-formed the regiment 
under fire, bringing them to a support arms the while. 
The discipline of his detachment was very fine, and 
their gallantry and steadiness remarkable. When he 
had perfected his alignment to his entire satisfaction, 
he sent them forward again with the bayonet. 

The right of the British was completely shattered, 
and separated from the center by a wide gap. At this 
juncture the Cjuick eye of Scott saw his opportunity; 
riding down to his remaining regiment, the Eleventh, 
under the gallant McNeill — the other two being hotly 
engaged on either flank — he shouted in a voice heard 
plainly by the men above the roar of the battle: ''The 



232 American Fights and Fighters 

enemy say we are good at long shot but cannot stand 
the cold iron ! I call upon the Eleventh instantly to give 
the lie to that slander ! Charge!" Officers in action do 
not usually make speeches of that kind, but it was in- 
tensely like Scott to have done so. At any rate, the 
Eleventh, led by Scott and McNeill in person, rushed 
forward into the gap with fixed bayonets, and that 
charge practically ended the fight. The British were 
routed on every hand and fled with all speed back to 
their encampment and entrenchments across the Chip- 
pewa. Scott moved up to attack but found the position 
too strong to be carried by his shattered regiments. 
Ripley's brigade did not reach the field in time to take 
any effective part in the battle. While Scott waited 
for the rest of the army to assemble, the British aban- 
doned their position during the night, leaving a large 
portion of their stores and equipage, and fled precipi- 
tately to the northwest, to Burlington Heights at the 
western end of Lake Ontario. 

In this sharp action, known as the Battle of Chip- 
pewa, the number of British engaged was about twen- 
ty-two hundred, as opposed to an American force 
numbering nineteen hundred. The American loss in 
killed, wounded and missing, was three hundred and 
twenty-seven, that of the British five hundred and 
seven. Scott had attacked and defeated a superior 
force upon whom he had inflicted much greater loss 
than his own. The battle had been fought on an open 
plain and the brilliant tactics of the Americans assured 
the British that there was a soldier in command. 
Brown now pushed forward for Lake George at the 
head of the river, intending to capture it, and then 
move on Burlington and thence to Upper Canada, but 
Chauncey, who was the most inefficient of all the Amer- 



The Niagara Campaign 233 

ican naval commanders in this war, was ill, and it never 
seemed to have occurred to him that anybody else could 
have commanded his fleet, so he did nothing. Mean- 
while, the British were reinforced byLieutenant-General 
Sir Gordon Drummond, with a large body of men, 
bringing the total of their army up to nearly five thou- 
sand men, including some of the best regiments in their 
service, the One Hundredth, the Royal Scots, the 
King's Own, etc. ; some, at least, of which had been 
with the redoubtable Wellington. 



II. LUNDY S LANE 

Brown thereupon moved back to Chippewa, and 
Drummond and Riall advanced down the river. 
Scouts had reported that a large body of British had 
been detached to cross the river at Queenstown and 
menace the American supply depot on the other side. 
Brown was in a quandary on the receipt of this news. 
He dared not divide his force in the face of an enemy 
who already outnumbered him, neither could he afford 
to lose his supplies, and to retreat across the river 
would be to give up the whole campaign. He deter- 
mined wisely, therefore, in the face of these three pos- 
sibilities, to move up to attack the main force of the 
British in front of him. If they had detached an ex- 
pedition, they would be weakened thereby and he might 
defeat them, or cause the recall of the expedition, or 
prevent it — if it had not started — anyway, it was good, 
bold tactics to attack. On the twenty-fifth of July, 
therefore, he ordered his plucky little army to advance. 
The first brigade under Scott, now comprising the 
regiments of Colonel Hugh Brady, the Twenty-second ; 



234 American Fights and Fighters 

Majors Jessup, tlie Twenty-fifth; Leavenworth, the 
Ninth; and McNeill, the Eleventh; Towson's artillery 
and Harris' cavalry, numbering in all about thirteen 
hundred men, took the lead. About five o'clock in the 
evening, the advance under Colonel Brady with the 
Twenty-second infantry, discovered the forward divi- 
sion of the enemy drawn up in force at a place called 
Lundy's Lane. 

The rumors which had reached Brown had not 
been correct. The whole British army was still on the 
same side of the river. The position they had taken 
was an exceedingly strong one; this portion of the 
army, numbering about two thousand men, had been 
drawn up in a crescent shaped line with a heavy bat- 
tery of artillery in the center, upon a little hill, which 
commanded the whole field. To retreat was to be 
defeated, to stand still would mean destruction, there 
was but one thing to be done. Scott despatched mes- 
sengers post-haste to Brown imploring reinforcements 
and with the instinct of a true soldier, at once boldly 
moved his little force forward to the attack. Repeating 
his tactics of Chippewa, he sent a flanking party under 
the command of Brady (after Scott the ranking offi- 
cer of the brigade) and Jessup, to the open ground on 
the British left, and forming up the remainder of his 
brigade in the thick woods, desperately charged the 
center. It was an amazing manoeuver ; over two thou- 
sand men in a chosen position, defended with artillery, 
were charged in the open by less than one thousand, 
while three hundred were detached for a flank attack ! 

The shock of tl^^e battle was terrific. The roar of 
the mighty falls near by mingled in deep undertones 
with the crash of the artillery and the rattle of the 
small arms. Again and again the Americans were led 



The Niagara Campaign 235 

forward ; Brady and Jessup finally established them- 
selves on the flank and Jessup actually got in the rear 
of the enemy, where he had the good fortune to capture 
General Riall himself, who was in command of the de- 
fense. The bold detachment made good its retreat 
thereafter in the face of reinforcements, and rejoined 
Scott's thin straggling line. When they reached the 
center they were immediately sent forward in the 
charge. Colonel Brady, Majors Jessup and McNeill 
were desperately wounded, Brady twice. All the offi- 
cers of the three regiments which they commanded, 
the Twenty-second, the Twenty-fifth and the Eleventh, 
except two or three, were killed or wounded. There 
was not a horse left in the brigade, two had been killed 
under Colonel Brady, before he was wounded.^ These 
regiments, somewhat disorganized by the 'hot firing 
they had received, and the large numbers killed and 
wounded, rallied in the rear of Leavenworth's battalion 
of the Ninth, wdiich still preserved its integrity, and the 
whole mass actually moved forward for another 
charge ! 

Fortunately Brown, wath the head of Ripley's brig- 
ade, now galloped on the field. It was high time for 
him to appear, he was sorely needed. As fast as the 
men of Ripley's brigade, who had been marching des- 
perately for the last hour upon the dead run, arrived, 
they were deployed for attack. Scott's exhausted, dec- 
imated men were collected to form a reserve. Porter 
soon joined Ripley. With first-class military instinct 
Brown at once discovered that the battery in the cen- 
ter of the British line was the key to their position. He 
lost no time in reflection; calling up Colonel Miller, 

1 Colonel, afterward Major-General, Hugh Brady was a 
great-great-uncle of the writer. 



236 American Fights and Fighters 

of the famous Twenty-first, he pointed it out and asked 
him if he would storm the hill and take the battery with 
his regiment. "I will try, sir," replied the intrepid sol- 
dier. The First Regiment, under Colonel Nicholas, was 
ordered to support him. It was now eight o'clock at 
night and quite dark, the waning moon, veiled under 
heavy clouds of smoke from the continuous discharges, 
giving but little light and the armies were actually 
fighting in thick darkness. 

Miller and his men crept up the hill on their hands 
and knees until, about twenty yards from the battery, 
they reached a rail fence undiscovered. They could 
see the British guns plainly by the light of the burning 
linstocks which the cannoneers held in their hands 
ready to discharge the loaded pieces. Thrusting their 
muskets through the fence rails the Americans took 
careful aim and poured in a volley which killed or 
wounded many of the surprised gunners. They then 
rushed up the hill, cleared its top with the bayonet and 
found themselves in possession ! The loaded guns 
were swung about instantly and poured forth their 
murderous discharges upon the retreating British. 
The First Regiment, which had been met by a smart 
fire and had wavered, now recovered its ground and 
reinforced the Twenty-first on the hill. The men of 
Miller's regiment after that wore upon the buttons of 
their coats his famous words, 'T will try, sir !" 

Lieutenant-General Drummond now arrived with 
heavy reinforcements for the British and assumed com- 
mand. He immediately formed his fresh men in the 
thick darkness in the valley below and advanced to 
attack the hill, which Brown had meanw^hile strongly 
reinforced. Five separate assaults were delivered upon 
this hill, the attacks being made with the greatest de- 




^ -5 



The Niagara Campaign 237 

termination. They were repulsed in each instance 
with equal courage. Men aimed at the flashes of light 
from the opposing line, and when their pieces were dis- 
charged, fought in the night, hand to hand, with the 
bayonet and the sword. Late that night Scott's brig- 
ade, which he had rapidly got into shape again, not yet 
having had enough of it, executed a bayonet charge up 
Lundy's Lane. In the height of the charge Scott was 
desperately wounded in two places, his shoulder being 
shattered by a grape shot. At the same moment 
Brown had ordered an advance down the hill, and 
while leading it received also a second wound. In 
spite of a severe wound which he had received early in 
the fight, he had persisted in continuing the command 
of the field. Faint from the loss of blood he had to 
retire and the command now devolved upon General 
Ripley. 

It was now about midnight. The British had com- 
pletely abandoned the field. The Americans were fa- 
tigued and exhausted by their desperate struggle. 
There was no water to be had on the top of the hill, 
and so Ripley, most unaccountably, ordered a retreat. 
The Americans withdrew, leaving the British guns 
which they had captured and so gallantly defended 
to remain alone upon the hill because there were no 
horses, all of them having been killed, with which to 
bring them off! Miller's men, who had captured the 
hill, dragged away one gun by hand — the only 
trophy of their exploit. Li the morning when Brown, 
the wounded commander, heard of the withdrawal of 
the army and the abandonment of the hard-won posi- 
tion, he was furious with indignation. He at once 
ordered an advance, but the British had re-occupied 
their lines in greater force, and as Ripley was no great 



238 American Fights and Fighters 

offensive fighter, though a man of high personal cour- 
age, the victorious army reluctantly withdrew. The 
Americans had, with twenty-five hundred men, en- 
gaged over three thousand five hundred British. They 
had taken a strong position, held it and driven the 
enemy from the field. Scott's dashing tactics and 
the desperate resolution of his men who had attacked 
immediately under his leadership, and had held the 
enemy in play until Brown could bring up his supports, 
awakened admiration on every hand. The attacks of 
the Americans had been so determined that the English 
artillerists had been bayoneted while loading their 
guns. The American batteries were advanced within 
a few yards of the British. Even the English histor- 
ians acknowledge the superior gallantry and courage 
of their foes, saying that it would have done honor to 
any service. Each side lost about nine hundred men, 
or about thirty per cent, of the total force engaged, 
or three times as great a proportion as has usually ob- 
tained in the greater battles of later wars. 



III. THE SIEGE OF FORT ERIE 

After the battle the Americans withdrew in good 
order to Fort Erie, followed leisurely at a safe distance 
by the superior forces of the British. General Gaines, 
in the absence of Scott and Brown — the life of the 
former being despaired of, and the latter seriously 
wounded — now was ordered to the command of the 
American position. Entrenchments were at once 
thrown up, forming a long, narrow enclosure, with 
Fort Erie, a star-pointed, bastioned fort at the right 
upper corner, Fort Douglass near the lake to the 



The Niagara Campaign 239 

right, and a long line of entrenchments terminating 
in Fort Towson on the lake to the left. The works 
were well-constructed, provided with ditches and abat- 
tis. Both armies were soon reinforced, bringing the 
British numbers to over four thousand, the American 
to little less than three thousand. 

Drummond regularly laid siege to the fort, mean- 
while sending Colonel Tucker with five hundred British 
regulars across the river to destroy the batteries at 
Black Rock. The expedition was badly defeated by 
three hundred American regulars fighting behind 
strong entrencliments thrown up on the bank of a 
creek, and withdrew to the main army again. On the 
thirteenth of August, the British batteries being then 
completed, a furious cannonade of the American works 
was begun which continued without intermission until 
the night of the fifteenth, when an attack in force was 
delivered upon the works. 

The British came forward in three heavy columns 
of one thousand men each. One column attacked 
Towson's battery on Snake Hill on the left. The 
American guns there were so well served that they 
poured out a continuous sheet of flame and shot 
through the black night. The men called the place 
"Towson's light-house." Though they finally reached 
the parapet there and crossed bayonets, the assailants 
were ultimately repulsed with great slaughter. The 
attack on Fort Douglass on the right, which was met 
with equal determination, was equally unfortunate. 
The second column, however, under Lieutenant-Col- 
onel Drummond, brother of the general-in-chief, had 
succeeded in entering the northeast bastion of Fort 
Erie. The men struggled through the ditch, some 
men from the defeated column from Fort Douglass 



240 American Fights and Fighters 

reinforced them, and they planted their scaling ladders 
on the fort and drove out the Americans at the point 
of the bayonet — indeed, during the whole of this des- 
perate assault, the English did not once fire their mus- 
kets; by the specific orders of their commander, the 
flints had been removed from the guns, and they 
relied entirely upon the secret and sudden use of the 
bayonet, the watchword was "cold steel" and they 
used it effectively. 

Lieutenant-Colonel Drummond was the first man to 
enter the fort. The Americans in the bastion made a 
heroic resistance, but they were all immediately killed 
or wounded. No captures were made or allowed. 
Lieutenant Macdonough, in command of the position, 
being wounded and helpless, asked for quarter. Drum- 
mond ruthlessly shot him down. His word had been 
"Give no quarter to the damned Yankees !" and he w^as 
distinctly heard to pass that order. One of the Ameri- 
can soldiers who had himself asked for quarter, seeing 
Macdonough's fate, shot the British commander, and 
immediately followed the discharge of his rifle by 
savagely thrusting him through the heart with the 
bayonet. The steel passed through a paper in Drum- 
mond's breast pocket, on which was written the order 
to attack containing these significant words : "The 
Lieutenant-General most strongly recommends the free 
use of the bayonet!" The blood-stained paper is still 
preserved by the New York Historical Society ; Drum- 
mond, of course, was instantly killed, his slayer also. 
His party, however, held the bastion with the most te- 
nacious courage until morning. 

The Americans brought up party after party to 
effect its capture, without success. As the day dawned 
the broken assaulting columns which had been rallied 



The Niagara Campaign 241 

after their repulse at Forts Towson and Douglass, ac- 
companied by the British reserves, were seen deploying 
in the open, preparing to support the column which had 
not yet been dislodged from the bastion. The Ameri- 
can artillery at once began playing upon them, doing 
great execution ; still they came on. Gaines was mak- 
ing ready for another desperate attempt to recapture 
the coveted bastion, when there was a violent explosion 
inside the work which killed or wounded most of the 
British, and the position was at once recaptured, where- 
upon the British columns withdrew precipitately and 
the battle was over. It is reported that Lieutenant 
Macdonough, wounded and dying, incensed at his bru- 
tal treatment, saw an opportunity and . exploded an 
artillery caisson by the flash of his pistol, Samson- 
like destroying himself and his foes. The total loss of 
the British in this attack in killed and wounded was 
one thousand men, the American rather less than one 
hundred ! The bastion was repaired under fire, and 
the cannonading was renewed with spirit on both 
sides. 

Some time after, General Gaines was badly wounded 
by a solid shot, and General Brown, though still weak 
from his wound, came over to take command in person. 
He immediately resolved upon a sortie. On the seven- 
teenth of September, at half after two o'clock in the 
afternoon, the carefully arranged sortie was delivered. 
The assaulting forces were divided into two columns 
of one thousand men each. One under General Porter 
marched over a road which had been opened through 
the woods and fell upon the flank of the British camp 
and entrenchments. The other, under Colonel Miller, 
marched up a ravine and interposed between the left 
and the center of the enemy's line. The attack, bril- 



242 American Fights and Fighters 

liantly delivered under cover of a thick fog, was a 
great surprise and was followed up successfully. Bat- 
teries number three and four were stormed and after 
a furious action of thirty minutes, were captured by 
Porter's men. This success was followed by the cap- 
ture of the blockhouse in the rear of battery number 
three. The garrison were made prisoners, cannon and 
carriages destroyed and the blockhouse and magazine 
blown up. All three of Porter's regimental comman- 
der's were killed or wounded, with many of his men. 
Miller, equally successful with his column, captured 
two more batteries and another blockhouse. Within 
forty minutes the whole forward line of the British 
entrenchments was in possession of the Americans. 
General Ripley, who had supported the attack, now 
brought up his reserve, and, in the new action which 
ensued received a severe wound. The cannon having 
been destroyed and the batteries rendered useless, the 
Americans having affected their purpose withdrew in 
good order, their loss in killed and wounded being 
five hundred as against one thousand of the British ; 
the whole affair was considered most creditable to the 
Americans. 

Hastily collecting his shattered forces, on the night 
of the twenty-first, Drummond broke up his camp 
and retreated behind the Chippewa, leaving large stores 
and munitions of war in the hands of the Americans. 
The brave Brown being unable to continue in command 
any longer, his wound breaking out afresh, the charge 
of the army was given to General Izard, who, after a 
futile engagement with the British, mainly carried on 
by skirmish and advance parties, destroyed Fort Erie 
and recrossed the river to the American side late in the 
fall. General Drummond withdrew his force at the 



The Niagara Campaign 243 

same time to Burlington Heights, so the peninsula 
was abandoned by both armies. The British loss in 
killed and wounded in the whole campaign, in which 
they always had the superior force and never once 
gained the victory, was over three thousand, and the 
American loss less than eighteen hundred. The quality 
of the fighting, and the way the Americans had devel- 
oped their army, went a long way toward convincing the 
English of the futility of continuing the struggle, and 
was largely instrumental in bringing about the peace 
treaty which was signed on the twenty-fourth of De- 
cember in the same year. 



THE AMERICAN WASPS AND 
THEIR VICTIMS 



I. THE FROLIC 

The most famous name among the smaller ships of 
the early American navy is that of the Wasp. It was 
borne in succession by two similar vessels, which in 
each instance sustained the high reputation of the 
American arms with an equal degree of fortune and 
success. The first, which was a small corvette of four 
hundred and fifty tons burden, was built shortly after 
the close of the Tripolitan War. She was armed with 
sixteen short thirty-two-pounders, and two long 
twelves, giving a total weight of about two hundred 
and fifty pounds to the broadside. Just before the be- 
ginning of the War of 1812, she was in England with 
despatches under the command of Captain Jacob Jones. 
He was the third eminent man of the same name who 
distinguished himself in the service. 

As soon as he reached home Captain Jones refitted 
and started out on a cruise with his ship to see what he 
could devour. On his second cruise, about the middle 
of October, 181 2, he was making for the track between 
England and the West Indies for the purpose of pick- 

244 



The Wasps' Victims 245 

ing up prizes, when he was overtaken by a violent gale 
during which the jib-boom carried away, taking 
with it two men who were on it at the time ; and his 
ship was otherwise damaged in the severe weather. 
The gale had abated somewhat, though the sea was 
still running high, when a little before midnight on the 
seventeenth of October, in latitude thirty-seven degrees 
North, longitude sixty-five degrees West, or about five 
hundred miles east of Albemarle Sound, North Car- 
olina, he raised several lights, which he at once sus- 
pected to be a convoy. Uncertain, however, as to the 
character of the force which might be guarding the 
supposed merchant vessels. Captain Jones prudently 
refrained from making a closer inspection until the 
morning. 

When the sun rose, he saw that the convoy consisted 
of five merchant ships, several of them armed, under 
the charge of a heavy brig-of-war. Jones was to wind- 
ward of the squadron and he immediately bore down 
in chase. The war-brig appeared nothing loath for ac- 
tion, and signaling her convoy to make sail and run 
before the wind, she interposed between them and the 
J J' asp, and dropped astern to reconnoiter, clearing for 
action at the same time. As the Wasp drew nearer, 
Jones saw that the brig, which had hoisted a Spanish 
flag, had her main-yard on deck ; it had been damaged 
in the gale of the day before. However, as the wind 
was very heavy, the brig was manoeuvering easily under 
a boom mainsail and the foretopsail and, in fact, had 
been converted into a brigantine, a very handy and con- 
venient rig for her under the circumstances. The 
Wasp was under short fighting canvas also. 

At half after eleven o'clock in the morning, when 
the two vessels were within fifty yards of each other, 



246 American Fights and Fighters 

Jones hailed and demanded the stranger's name. The 
brig hauled down the Spanish flag — which had de- 
ceived no one, by the way, for the Spaniard never lived 
who would come down upon a foe and carry sail as she 
had done — hoisted the English colors and poured in 
a broadside followed by a rattling volley of musketry. 
The PVasp responded in kind immediately, and the two 
vessels sailed side by side nearing each other with every 
passing moment. The firing was rapid and severe on 
both sides, although the English delivered three broad- 
sides to the American two. The sea was still running 
very heavy and the roll of the ships was tremendous, 
the decks were flooded from time to time and the gun 
muzzles went under with every roll. After a few min- 
utes of combat, the main topmast of the Wasp was 
shot away, and together with its yards fell across 
the forebraces, rendering it impossible to swing the 
head yards for the rest of the action. A few moments 
after this misfortune, the gaff and the mizzen topgal- 
lant mast were shot away, which rendered the Wasp 
almost unmanageable. 

At 11.52 A.M. the vessels had worked to w^ithin half 
pistol-shot distance of each other. The Wasp had been 
cut up fearfully aloft, every brace and most of her run- 
ning rigging had been carried away, and, so far as the 
Americans could see, but little damage had as yet been 
done to their antagonist. They could not account for it ; 
their fire had been deliberate and it was believed accur- 
ate, the crew had been carefully trained and exercised 
in frequent target practice, they were going about their 
work coolly enough, and why no damage appeared on 
their enemy was difficult to understand. There had 
been very few casualties on the American vessel and 
the fire was still kept up unremittingly, though it was 



The Wasps' Victims 247 

perceived that the Enghsh return was gradually de- 
creasing in violence and force. At this juncture the 
head braces of the brig were carried away, and as she 
was unable to trim her yards, the pressure of the wind 
upon her after sails threw her bows up toward the 
broadside of the Wasp which was forging ahead 
slowly. 

The two vessels came together with a tremendous 
crash, the brig's bowsprit was thrust violently be- 
tween the main and mizzenmasts of the American and 
jammed tightly in the main-shrouds. The Amer- 
icans loaded their port guns with grape and canister 
and actually fired through the English bridle ports and 
raked the enemy with terrible effect. No reply of any 
kind came from the brig. The ships were so close 
together that the American ramrods struck the sides 
of the British brig. The bowsprit of the enemy hav- 
ing been fouled, so that she could not extricate herself, 
Jones, in view of his shattered spars, desired to rake 
her again before he attempted to board, but in spite of 
his peremptory orders, the impetuosity of his crew 
could no longer be restrained. After the first rake, 
Jack Lang, an American sailor, who had a bitter score 
to pay against the British government for impress- 
ment, jumped on his gun and reaching for the brig's 
bowsprit clambered to her deck. Lieutenant James 
Biddle had stepped up on the rail in readiness to jump 
as soon as the roll of the vessels should bring them 
close enough together ; at a nod from Jones he at once 
leaped for the enemy's rail, which he caught with his 
hands; little Midshipman Baker, utterly unable to 
reach the deck of the other ship, now caught hold of 
Biddle's coat-tails and endeavored to swarm up his 
back, whereupon both of them fell back upon the 



248 American Fights and Fighters 

deck of the Wasp, narrowly escaping a fall into 
the water between the two ships. Biddle picked up the 
plucky little midshipman, threw him on the rail of the 
silent brig, and scrambled up afterward, to support the 
intrepid Lang, who had been alone on the enemy's deck 
for nearly a minute. The other boarders immediately 
followed and gained the brig's forecastle. 

Lang, who had been in no danger whatever, was 
standing on the forecastle, with his arms folded about 
his cutlass, surveying in great awe the English ship, 
the like of which neither he nor any other man had 
ever seen before. The deck was covered thick with 
dead and wounded men, many of the latter groaning 
and shrieking in horrible agony. Aft on the quarter- 
deck were three officers, two of them unable to stand 
alone, and all of them badly wounded. At the wheel 
and clinging resolutely to its spokes, was a grim, blood- 
stained old sailor, an heroic example of devotion to 
duty, who still kept his station and that was all. The 
guns were dismounted on every hand ; ports had been 
beaten into each other, rails smashed, not a boat left 
at the davits. The decks were washed about with 
water brightly colored with the l^lood of the dead and 
dying. The American boarders were simply appalled 
at the sight of the slaughter. They stood in silence 
for a few moments, until Biddle, followed by Lieuten- 
ant Rogers and Midshipman Baker, after directing 
the other men to remain where they were, picked his 
way over the bodies to the quarter-deck. As he ap- 
proached them, the three officers flung dowai their 
sw^ords at his feet, and one of them, burying his face in 
his hands, leaned upon the rail and burst into tears. 
The grim old sailor still kept his place at the helm. 
Biddle sprang into the rigging and with his own hands 




S s 



3 



The Wasps' Victims 249 

lowered the flag. After forty-nine minutes of strug- 
gle the battle was over. Almost as he did so, the 
masts of the prize fell, the mainmast breaking off close 
to the deck, the foremast ten feet above it. 

Out of a crew of one hundred and ten, between ten 
and twenty only were unscathed, and had fled below 
to escape the awful punishment of the American shot. 
The actual loss in killed and wounded was over ninety. 
The prize proved to be the British brig Frolic, Cap- 
tain Thomas Whinyates. She was of four hundred 
and seventy tons burden and carried twenty-two guns, 
sixteen short thirty-twos and four twelves on the main 
deck, and two twelve-pound carronades on the forecas- 
tle, which gave her two hundred and ninety pounds to 
the broadside. She was larger, better armed and in 
every way superior to the Wasp, and she had been ab- 
solutely beaten to pieces. She had been desperately 
defended and her gun fire had been exceedingly ac- 
curate. The English, however, had fired on the up- 
ward roll of the ship on the waves and most of their 
shot had gone into the rigging and braces. The Amer- 
icans had fired on the downward roll and their shot 
had hulled the Frolic repeatedly, though, of course, 
they had not been aware of its destructive force until 
after the action. Captain Whinyates was much cen- 
sured for his defeat by an inferior force and was never 
afterward employed in active service. The loss on the 
Wasp was only five killed and five wounded. Immedi- 
ately after the battle another English vessel, the 
Poicticrs, a seventy-four, hove in sight and captured 
both vessels. The Wasp made an effort to escape, but 
when her men shook her sails out of the gaskets they 
found they had been cut to ribbons by the enemy's fire 
and she was helpless. 



250 American Fights and Fighters 

II. THE REINDEER 

Eighteen months after the capture, a new and im- 
proved edition of the former ship bearing the same 
name, which had been built at Washington after her 
loss, got to sea from Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on 
May I, 1 8 14, under the command of Captain Johnston 
Blakely, of North Carolina. The new vessel carried 
twenty short thirty-two-jDound carronades and two 
long twelves, a total of twenty-two guns with about 
three hundred and nine pounds to the broadside. She 
was larger and better built than the old ship, and of a 
beautiful model, upon which her designer and ship- 
builders had lavished all their inventive capacity and 
skill, until they had produced one of the swiftest and 
handiest vessels upon the sea. Her crew had been se- 
lected with especial care and she was very heavily 
manned. Blakely was already a distinguished young 
officer and he was destined to add greatly to his repu- 
tation by this cruise. He made for the crowded waters 
of the European coast, and by his captures of merchant 
vessels spread consternation in the narrow seas. 

At four o'clock in the morning of June 28, 1814, in 
latitude forty-eight degrees thirty-six minutes North, 
longitude eleven degrees fifteen minutes West, the 
weather being cloudy with a light breeze from the 
northeast, two sail were raised to windward. As the 
Wasp made for the stranger, three other vessels ap- 
peared close at hand oft the weather beam. Blakely 
changed his course for the nearest ship, and at 12.30 
P.M., as the American had not recognized signals 
thrown out by the strangers, Blakely cleared for action. 
He vainly endeavored to get the weather-gage, for 
the English ship was beautifully handled, and the 



The Wasps' Victims 251 

Wasp finally fired a lee gun and ran off free with the 
wind a little forward the port beam. The English ship, 
a brig-of-war, accepted the bold challenge at once and 
hoisted sail to close. She slowly crept up on the 
weather quarter of the American, and at 3.17 p.m. 
opened fire, at a range of about sixty yards, from a 
shifting twelve-pound carronade upon her forecastle, 
which was loaded \vith grape. To this discharge the 
Americans could make no reply and they had perforce 
to endure patiently the fire of the gun which was dis- 
charged five times with the utmost deliberation, inflict- 
ing much damage to the ship and causing some loss 
among the men for nine minutes, or until 3.26 p.m., 
when, finding that the enemy did not draw abreast 
of him, Blakely put his helm a-lee and luffed up, firing 
his carronades from aft forward as they bore. 

For ten minutes the two vessels, lying side by side 
about as far from each other as the width of an ordinary 
city street, kept up an unremitting fire. The cannonade 
was terrific. The concussions of the explosions dead- 
ened the little wind prevailing, so that the ships lost way 
and the smoke hung over them in heavy clouds. Both 
crews worked at the guns with desperate energy but 
the odds were too great for the English vessel, the 
Reindeer; Captain William Manners, her commander, 
one of the finest officers in the service, saw that his 
only hope lay in employing that last resource which has 
been so often successfully tried by British seamen, the 
steel of their cutlasses and their good right arms. The 
ships were now almost touching. Suddenly putting 
his helm hard up, the captain of the Reindeer ran the 
Wasp aboard on her port quarter. Manners had been 
slightly wounded several times and, though bleeding, 
still stuck to his post. At this moment a grape shot 



252 American Fights and Fighters 

passed through his thighs, bringing him to the deck, 
but with unparalleled resolution he dragged himself 
to his feet, and clinging to a stay, cheered his men as 
they sprang to board. Blakely was ready for them. 

As the ships came together, he called his boarders 
aft and massed them behind the rail. As the two ves- 
sels lay side by side, their boarders hacked and thrust 
at each other through the ports in the shrouding 
smoke. As it blew away from the now silent guns, 
the English sprang to the rail. But a little chasm sep- 
arated them, caused by the bends of the ships, and there 
commenced a deadly hand to hand conflict. The top- 
men and marines on either ship poured in a withering 
fire. Presently the English gave back. Then it was that 
Manners sprang into the breach sword in hand, and 
wounded and dying though he was, he summoned the 
last vestige of his strength and leaped to the rail to lead 
his men again. They followed him gallantly, like the 
brave fellows they were. At this instant, a bullet 
from the American maintop crushed into his skull. He 
clapped his left hand to his face, shrieked out "My 
God !" and still brandishing his sword in his right hand 
fell back upon the deck he had defended so desperately. 
No one ever died better. As the British hesitated in 
the face of this loss, Blakely sprang to the Reindeer's 
rail and gave the order to board, and with wild cheers 
the Americans followed their leader to the British deck. 
There was a furious struggle for a few minutes, when 
the British were either killed or driven below, and 
the captain's clerk, the highest surviving officer, sur- 
rendered the ship ! 

The time of the conflict had been twenty-seven min- 
utes from the time the Reindeer fired her shifting 
carronade, and only eighteen minutes from the time 



The Wasps' Victims 253 

the Wasp had first responrled. The Reindeer was 
smaller than the Wasp, her broadside was only two 
hundred and ten pounds as against three hundred and 
fifteen; her crew numbered one hundred and eighteen 
as against one hundred and seventy-three. The Wasp 
had twenty-six killed and wounded and had been 
rather severely handled. The Reindeer had sixty- 
seven killed and wounded and had been cut to pieces. 
She fought under greater disadvantage than any other 
of the British sloops which had been captured in a sin- 
gle action during the whole war, yet she had made in- 
comparably the best fight of them all ! There were no 
mistakes made on either side. Manners had fought 
his ship in the most brilliant way, and no human man 
could have done better. On the other hand, the differ- 
ence in execution on the two vessels in favor of the 
American was fully proportioned to the latter's pre- 
ponderance in force. It is impossible to see how 
Blakely could have ended the fight more quickly and 
thoroughly than he did. As Roosevelt remarks, "We 
may take great pride in the prowess and courage and 
skill exhibited on both ships." Manners illustrated in 
his death the glorious traditions of his service as few 
men have done. The day after the conflict it was 
found impossible to save the Reindeer, and by Blake- 
ly's orders she was burned. 



III. THE AVON 

After the battle the Wasp went into TOrient to refit. 
On the twenty-seventh of August Blakely sailed again, 
taking several prizes. On September first he over- 
hauled a convoy bound for Gibraltar under the protec- 



254 American Fights and Fighters 

tion of a line-of-battle ship, the Armada, 74. The 
brave American, in spite of the fact that he was several 
times chased away by the Hne-of-battle ship, finally 
succeeded in cutting out one of the convoy, laden with 
guns and military stores of great value, which he de- 
liberately proceeded to burn and destroy under the 
nose of the infuriated captain of the liner. It was a 
part of Blakely's bold daring that he should have ac- 
complished this audacious feat without harm to his 
ship. At half past six in the evening of the same day, 
being in latitude forty-seven degrees thirty minutes 
North, longitude eleven degrees West, having run the 
convoy out of sight, he discovered four sail, two to 
starboard and two to port; he at once determined to 
have a nearer look at them — that they might all be 
ships-of-war made no difference to him. It soon ap- 
peared that they were three English war vessels chas- 
ing an American privateer. 

At seven o'clock the nearest one, which had lagged 
far behind the others, and which was afterward found 
to be the British brig Avon, Captain John Arbuthnot, 
made night signals, to which the Wasp paid no atten- 
tion. At 8.38 P.M. the Avon began firing her stern 
chaser. At twenty minutes after nine the Wasp weath- 
ered on the Avon off the port cjuarter. Hails were ex- 
changed and the brig was ordered to heave to. She 
declined and set her foretopmast studding sail to es- 
cape. At 9.29 P.M. the Wasp began firing with a twelve- 
pound carronade which had been mounted forward 
after the action with the Reindeer. The Avon replied 
briskly with her stern guns. Blakely, then fearing that 
the enemy would square away before the wind and es- 
cape in the darkness, shifted his helm and ran to lee- 
ward of her and ranged alongside after pouring a 



The Wasps' Victims 255 

semi-raking broadside into her starboard quarter as he 
passed. A furious^ engagement began immediately at 
very close range. The night was a black one and all 
the men on the Wasp could see was a great shadow 
rushing rapidly through the water by their side. They 
could aim at the flashes of their enemy's guns or at the 
white foam on her water-line, and as usual their practice 
was excellent. The Avon was hulled again and again, 
her guns were dismounted, the mainmast was carried 
away, and after thirty minutes of conflict she was com- 
pletely silenced. When Blakely, suspending his fire, 
asked if she had struck, she returned with a few scat- 
tered discharges and the battle was commenced. For 
ten minutes the Wasp again poured her broadsides into 
the Avon, which was hailed at the end of that time, and 
this time answered that she surrendered. 

Before Blakely could take possession of his prize, 
another sail, the British brig-of-war Castillian, 18, 
Captain Brainer, which had abandoned the chase, was 
seen astern. The men sprang to quarters again, and 
in a few minutes two more sail hove in sight, one of 
which was the English sloop Tartarus, 20. The braces 
of the Wasp being much cut up, she ran off before the 
wind while re-reeving new ones. The Castillian made 
after her until she came within range, when she poured 
in a broadside which went over the American and did 
no damage at all. When her fire was returned with 
promptness, she immediately tacked and edged away 
in the darkness. The ship with which the Wasp had 
been engaged and whose name the crew never learned, 
was now making a signal of distress. The three Brit- 
ish ships left the Wasp to pursue her course unimped- 
ed and the Castillian made for the Avon. The 
Castillian reached her at twelve o'clock, midnight, when 



256 American Fights and Fighters 

Captain Brainer was informed by Captain Arbuthnot 
that she was sinking fast, and by oi\p o'clock, just as the 
last boat load of men had been taken from her, the 
Avon went down bow foremost. The Avon mounted 
eighteen guns, carrying two hundred and sixty-two 
pounds to the broadside; out of her crew of one hun- 
dred and seventeen men, forty-two had been killed and 
wounded. The loss on the IV asp was two killed and 
one wounded. 

The Wasp continued on her course, capturing and 
destroying several merchantmen and letters-of-marque, 
one of which, the Atlanta, proving of great value, was 
sent home. The prize reached Savannah safely on 
November fourth, bringing Blakely's report of his 
cruise to the Secretary of the Navy. On October ninth 
the Swedish brig Adonis, carrying two American lieu- 
tenants paroled from the captured frigate Essex, was 
overhauled by a ship-of-war in latitude eighteen de- 
grees thirty-five minutes North, longitude thirty de- 
grees ten minutes West. Upon being informed that 
the man-of-war was the American sloop Wasp, Messrs. 
McKnight and Lyman, the two lieutenants, went 
aboard her, and she sailed away upon her cruise. 
From that day to this she disappeared from the ken of 
humanity. Not a sight nor a sign of her has ever 
come up from the great deep to say what ever became 
of Blakely and his gallant crew. Some time after- 
ward, it is stated, a large British frigate put into 
Lisbon very badly damaged and cut up, and re- 
lated that she had suffered in a night action with a 
small American sloop, at the close of which the latter 
suddenly disappeared. James Barnes surmises that 
this might have been the Wasp. It is certainly possi- 
ble of course, though there is no proof of it, and w^io 



The Wasps' Victims 257 

could wish for a better end for that httle terror of the 
sea than for her to go down with her colors flying, 
after a bitter battle against overwhelming odds? But 
there is nothing certain about the surmise, and we shall 
not really know what became of them until that long 
deferred day when the earth and the sea shall give up 
their dead. It is singular also that the first Wasp, 
which was captured by the Poicticrs and was taken 
into the British service, sailed away on a cruise in this 
same year and, like her younger American namesake, 
never came back again. Perhaps in some mighty ocean 
Valhalla, in amity and friendship, these heroes of the 
deep meet together and tell tales of the old days when 
they battled stoutly for the honor of their flags upon 
the sea. 



MACDONOUGH AT LAKE 
CHAMPLAIN 



WAR OF l8l2 

The greatest figure In the naval annals of our country 
from Paul Jones to David Farragut is Thomas Mac- 
donough. Prior to the Civil War, the naval battle 
which he fought and won, was certainly the most im- 
portant of any in which the American navy has partici- 
pated. From the point of strategy, tactics, seamanship, 
and hard, desperate fighting, it stands in the first rank. 
Singularly enough, it has never been a popular battle, 
and Macdonough does not hold that place in the af- 
fections of his countrymen to which his merits entitle 
him. Two of the largest and most popular encyclo- 
pedias in my library do not even mention his name. 
Without in the least minimizing the service nor dis- 
paraging the greatness of Perry, at Lake Erie, as a 
tactician, as a fighter, as a man, he is not to be men- 
tioned in the same breath as Macdonough. 

As might be surmised from his name, the tall, slen- 
der, blue-eyed, red-headed young fighter (twenty-eight 
when he fought his great battle) was of Scotch descent. 
His great-great-grandfather emigrated to Ireland and 

258 



Lake Champlain 259 

from thence his grandfather came early to America, so 
that if any one falls within the disputed category of 
"Scotch-Irish," it is certainly he. His brother had 
been a midshipman with Truxtun, and when the Con- 
stellation captured L'Insurgciitc, one of the three men 
wounded on the American was James Macdonough, 
who lost a leg and retired from the service. Inspired 
by his brother's glorious example, and I doubt not by 
the memory of the sacrifice of his father, a successful 
physician who had given up his practice to go into the 
line of the army of the Revolution, where he rose to a 
high rank, Thomas Macdonough at the late age of 
seventeen gladly received a midshipman's warrant. 
He took a distinguished part in the operations around 
Tripoli, and was one of the officers who accompanied 
Decatur when he cut out the Philadelphia. 

A year or two after, while he was first lieutenant of 
the brig Siren and in command in the absence of the 
captain, a British man-of-war sent an eight-oared boat 
to an American merchantman lying near the Siren and 
took from her a sailor. On his own responsibility 
Macdonough called away his boat, manned by four 
stout oarsmen, pursued the Britisher until he caught up 
with him, and peremptorily demanded the return of the 
man. When he was refused he boldly reached over the 
gunwale of the English boat and hauled the captive 
into his own boat, right under the guns of the frigate, 
and made his way back to the Siren. The English 
captain followed hot foot and furious with rage, but 
Macdonough, entirely equal to the occasion, stood his 
ground and declared he would sink alongside rather 
than give up the man. The man was not given up. 

There is a family tradition to the effect that while 
in command of a merchant vessel during a leave of ab- 



26o American Fights and Fighters 

sence. he was actually seized himself, by a press gang, 
and in spite of his protestations, was sent aboard a 
British frigate, where his name was duly entered upon 
the ship's books. The night of the capture his ham- 
mock was swung next to that of the corporal of the 
marine guard. The story goes, that when the corporal 
turned in, Macdonough dressed himself in the marine's 
uniform, went up on deck, and boldly got permission 
from the officer in charge to go into the cutter along- 
side at the swinging boom, to search for spirits. As 
he went forward to drop into the boat, the real cor- 
poral awakening and missing his clothes, came up on 
deck to give the alarm. The bold American knocked 
him senseless with his fist, ran out on the boom, 
dropped into the boat, cut the lashing, drifted away, 
and in spite of pursuit, regained his own ship and got 
under wa3^ He paid back the score fully later on. 

When he was sent, a young lieutenant, to take com- 
mand on Lake Champlain, like Perry, he had to impro- 
vise a navy, ships, guns, officers and nearly everything 
else. By herculean exertions he finally built or as- 
sembled a small squadron : a sloop-of-war, the Sarato- 
ga, which he commanded himself; a brig, the Eagle, 
Lieutenant Robert Henly, an old friend from the 
Constellation; the schooner Ticonderoga (converted 
into a war vessel from a broken down steamboat, by 
the way) commanded by Stephen Cassin; the sloop 
Preble, and ten galleys or gunboats, small affairs, 
mainly propelled by oars, carrying one or two rather 
heavy guns and manned by from twenty-five to forty 
men each. 

The British, under Commodore Downie, an experi- 
enced officer, with equal skill and exertion had secured 
or built a similar squadron, comprising a heavy frigate, 



Lake Champlain 261 

the Coniiancc, about twice as large as the Saratoga 
and three times as efficient, and which should have 
been a match for any three of Macdonough's vessels; 
a brig, the Linnet, of slightly less force than the Eagle; 
two sloops, the Chubb and the Finch, each about half 
again as large as the Preble and correspondingly smal- 
ler than the Ticondcroga, and twelve gun boats similar 
to the American vessels of the same class. 

Except for their light draft the large vessels of both 
squadrons were built, rigged, and equipped as if for 
sea. A reference to the table following this chapter 
shows the force, etc., of the two squadrons. It will be 
seen that the British had a great superiority in the 
number and size of their long guns and in the arrange- 
ment of them. The more force that is concentrated 
in one ship in such circumstances, the greater the ad- 
vantage. This advantage, however, the tactical dis- 
position and seamanlike prevision of Macdonough 
largely neutralized. 

The little bay near Plattsburg between Cumberland 
Head and Crab Island looks toward the south, and the 
American position had been so skilfully chosen that 
the attacking force would be compelled to come up 
bows on, whatever the state of the wind, and thus sub- 
ject themselves to a raking fire. This did not matter 
much to the ordinary English seaman, for he had been 
accustomed by years of success to swoop down upon 
his continental enemies in any sort of a way, his only 
object being to get alongside, when the end was certain. 
It may be remarked in passing, if Nelson had led down 
upon an American fleet as he did on the French and 
Spanish at Trafalgar, his vessels would have been 
beaten to pieces in succession, and the result of the bat- 
tle would have been the other way. This is no disre- 



262 American Fights and Fighters 

spect to Nelson, the greatest admiral of all history, 
for he knew upon whom he was leading down ! 

Macdonough had drawn up his fleet in line ahead, 
the Eagle in the lead close to the shore, her nose fairly 
poking into a shoal, so that it was impossible for an ene- 
my to turn that flank so long as she stayed there. Next 
to ih^' Eagle was the flagship Saratoga, following her 
the Ticonderoga, and at the rear of the line resting on 
Crab Island, which carried a one-gun battery, a six- 
pounder, manned by invalids and convalescents from 
the hospital thereon, was the little Preble. The inter- 
spaces between the large ships were filled by the gun- 
boats which were withdrawn somewhat to form a 
second line, and the larger part of the gunboats were 
ordered to support the more vulnerable part of the line 
where the Preble and Ticonderoga lay (which they 
mainly failed to do). 

Every one of the American ships had sent anchors 
down with ropes leading to different parts of the ship, 
by hauling in or slacking off which the vessels could be 
turned in any direction. Technically, they had springs 
on their cables, with which to wind ship, and stream 
and kedge anchors out, in case any of the sheet or other 
cables were shot away. It was this precaution which 
finally gained the victory for Macdonough. 

The morning of Sunday, September 11, 1814 — singu- 
lar how many of our naval battles have been on Sunday 
— was as fair a day in which to worship God as ever 
comes to these beautiful regions in the early autumn. 
The gentle breeze from the north slightly ruffled the 
surface of the lake as the enemy slowly made their 
way with the wind aft round Cumberland Head, and 
then hove to out of range below the American line, 
until the vessels were all assembled and in place, when 



Lake Champlain 263 

they deliberately began to beat up toward the waithig 
squadron. It was not the first tmie that the besom of 
war had swept the waters of the lake, nor the clamor of 
battle reechoed from the crags which fringed its shores. 
Every silent hill was eloquent with the war-cry of the 
terrible savage and the shriek of his terrified victim; 
the valleys were reminiscent with the prayers of the 
heroic Jesuit priests ; the air was filled with memories of 
the French, the German and the English soldiers and 
woodsmen ; in every rocky cavern lurked the echo of 
ringing steel and roaring cannon. 

Now a powerful army of veterans of the peninsula, 
than whom, as their own officers testified, there never 
was a braver soldiery nor a more bloody, brutal, and 
ferocious, were making ready to strike down the old 
war-path, in order to cut the struggling young United 
States in two and dictate terms of peace and surrender 
in the chief city of the conquered. General Macomb, 
with a small body of regulars and a few thousand mili- 
tia, his total force not a third as great as that which 
menaced him, was yet resolutely preparing to dispute 
the advance to the bitter end, but the fate of the enter- 
prise depended upon the strength of the naval forces 
on the lake. When they had brushed aside Macdonough 
the valley of the Eludson would be clear and their way 
to New York open. As long as the Americans held 
the lake the movement was impossible. Downie came 
on in full confidence of his own ability to do the neces- 
sary brushing aside. 

As the rolling echo of the drums beating to quar- 
ters softly melted away among the surrounding hills, 
and the busy note of preparation subsided into an ex- 
pectant silence, Macdonough bade his waiting crews 
to prayer. There at their stations with bowed heads 



264 American Fights and Fighters 

they knelt down upon the white decks, soon to be 
stained with their own blood, while with his own lips, 
in. the familiar words of the "Book of Common Prayer," 
the young, commander invoked the protection of the 
God of Battles for the coming conflict — a rare and 
memorable scene indeed ! 

As the British in grim silence slowly drew near, their 
plan of attack developed itself. The brig Linnet and the 
sloop Chubb luffed up toward the head of Macdon- 
ough's line, where the Eagle lay. The sloop Finch 
and all of the galleys kept away toward the rear of the 
line, while the Confiancc prepared to smash in through 
the center, between the Eagle and the Saratoga. The 
plan was simple but good. Macdonough was a dis- 
organizing factor in carrying it out, however ; with his 
own hands he aimed and fired the first gun ( a previous 
broadside from the Eagle, which fell far short, not 
being counted) ; the twenty- four-pound shot from the 
Saratoga struck the English flagship squarely in the 
bow, passed through the hawse pipe and, ranging aft, 
dismounted a gun, killed several men, and carried 
away the wheel ; she had been fairly raked. It was a 
little after eight in the morning. 

The American ships now opened, as their guns 
bore, and the Conhance, which came on steadily and 
imperturbably, was raked again and again. All hope 
of breaking through the line had to be abandoned in 
the face of that smashing fire, and the battle neces- 
sarily resolved itself into an artillery duel at long 
range. Therefore, when Downie reached a position in 
which he judged he could use his preponderating force 
of long guns to the best advantage, the Coniiance 
dropped anchor, deliberately and with splendid cour- 
age took in sail, swung calmly round until her battery 



w 







^ 






* - ii * * 



^l! 



-ii: ::i ij- 



Lake Champlain 265 

bore, and within the distance of two hundred and fifty- 
yards poured into the Saratoga a shattering broadside 
from her long twenty-fours. The effect was fearful. 
On the American over a hundred men were knocked 
down by the force of the concussion. The ship shiv- 
ered and reeled from stem to stern, from truck to keel- 
son, under the fearful impact. More than forty poor 
fellows lay weltering in their blood. First Lieutenant 
Gamble, in the act of sighting a gun, was killed by a 
piece of a quoin which was driven against him, though 
the blow did not break the skin. With great courage 
Macdonough rallied his men, and the broadside was 
returned with effect. 

For two long hours the two anchored ships poured 
into each other a tremendous and continuous fire, Mac- 
donough toiling at the guns like a common seaman 
with the rest, and by his personal gallantry sustaining 
his men. It has been fondly noted by various writers 
that the terrible first broadside of the Coniiance 
smashed a chicken-coop on one of the American ves- 
sels, thus liberating a game cock, which sprang into 
the rigging and with lusty crowing encouraged the 
cheering crews. Inasmuch as nearly every writer puts 
the chicken in a different ship, it is safe to conclude 
that there must have been one chicken there, and the 
incident probably did occur. At any rate, if it was an 
American chicken, it would certainly crow upon being 
made free. 

Meanwhile, up at the head of the line, which they 
unsuccessfully endeavored to turn, the Linnet and the 
CJiitbb were heavily engaged with the Eagle. After 
an hour's combat the Cliiibb was completely disabled 
by a severe raking from the Eagle, about one half of 
her crew were killed and wounded, and, with reeking 



266 American Fights and Fighters 

decks and shattered spars, she drifted helplessly down 
the line. As she came opposite the Saratoga, a twenty- 
foiir-pouiid shot brought down her colors, and she was 
gallantly taken possession of by Midshipman Pratt, 
and removed from the combat to the rear of the Ameri- 
can line. 

During this episode the Linnet had at last secured 
a raking position off the starboard bow of the Eagle, 
and the springs of the latter's cables being unfortu- 
nately shot away, Henly was unable to make any 
effective defense, so he finally cut his cable, sheeted 
home his topsails, and sailed down in the rear of the 
'Saratoga, where he brought to between her and the 
Ticonderoga, and opened a brisk fire from his port 
guns upon the big Conilancc and the gunboats. This 
left the head of Macdonough's line entirely exposed, 
and that flank was at once turned. The Linnet, ad- 
mirably handled, took a position squarely across the 
bows of the Saratoga, and deliberately raked her again 
and again. Macdonough, hotly engaged with the 
Confiance, had to grin and bear it as best he might. 
It was now about eleven o'clock. 

While the head is being turned and the fierce attack 
is being made on the center, let us look to the other 
end of the line. The little Preble had almost imme- 
diately been driven out of the combat by the onslaught 
of the flotilla of British galleys, and she took no further 
part in the action. The Finch was so roughly han- 
dled by the larger Ticondcroga that she drifted down 
under the lee of the Crab Island battery and the in- 
valids fired their little gun at her, which caused her to 
surrender, and they took possession of the sloop, find- 
ing her full of dead and wounded. 

This left the Ticonderoi^a and four of the Ameri- 



Lake Champlain 267 

can gunboats to sustain the attack of the heavier, better 
manned, and more efficient British gunboats. Some 
of the American gunboats did not behave well, and for 
a time the Ticondcroga was practically alone. The 
English gunboats attacked with the greatest spirit, 
driving up to the Ticondcrogo again and again, pour- 
ing a perfect stream of grape and solid shot upon the 
schooner, getting so near her on several occasions that 
the oarsmen sprang to their feet and handled cutlass 
and pistol, preparing to board, but time and again 
they were beaten off with great slaughter. 

The brave Cassin throughout the whole of the 
fierce little battle walked the taffrail of his ship as 
calmly as if he had been in a drawing-room, unmindful 
of the stream of bullets which screamed past him, en- 
couraging his gallant crew, and, with the greatest pos- 
sible resolution, holding his ground against these over- 
whelming odds, until succored by some more of the 
American gunboats and a portion of the fire from the 
Eagle. His conduct was simply heroic, his services 
invaluable — yet there are few people who have even 
heard of his name. During this part of the action the 
matches gave out on the Ticondcroga, and Midship- 
man (after Rear Admiral) Paulding fired the guns by 
snapping his pistol at the touch holes. The executive 
officer, Stansbury, was struck by a round shot, cut in 
two, and his body carried overboard. His disappear- 
ance had not been observed, and the mystery of it was 
not explained until his body rose two days after the 
battle. The schooner was riddled with bullets. It is 
not too much to say that if she had been driven from 
her post the battle would have been irretrievably lost. 
So much for Cassin and his men. 

It was almost lost anyhow. To return to the cen- 



268 American Fights and Fighters 

ter, the raking of the Linnet and the steady fire for 
nearly two hours from the enormous battery of the 
Conhance had at last silenced the overmatched Sara- 
toga. Twice she had been set on fire by hot shot. All 
the officers, except Macdonough, had been killed or 
wounded. He himself had been knocked senseless 
three times. The first time a shot cut the spanker 
boom above his head, and one of the broken pieces 
fell upon him; a splinter struck him on the second 
occasion; and the third time he was actually struck 
in the breast by a human head, which belonged to the 
captain of his favorite gun, who had just been decapi- 
tated by a round shot. Macdonough was like Jones, 
however, in that he never knew when he was beaten. 

The slaughter had been fearful. Many of the men 
had their clothes literally torn from them by the splint- 
ers, the master being a striking example. He fought 
the latter part of the action in a breech-clout alone, 
though he had not been otherwise damaged by 
the splinters which had stripped him of his raiment. 
On the Confiancc the loss had been extremely severe 
also, and in one sense irreparable. About fifteen min- 
utes after the battle began, a shot from the Saratoga 
had struck one of the guns of the Confiance, torn it 
from its carriage, and hurled it against Commodore 
Downie, who had been instantly killed, though the skin 
of his body, as was the case with Lieutenant Gamble, 
was not even broken. English seamen who had been 
at Trafalgar said afterward that this little battle was 
infinitely more fierce and bloody than that great one. 
The fight was going on all along the line at the same 
time, and the lake was covered with smoke. The light 
breeze had died away entirely. 

At this moment Macdonough, finding that every 
gun in his starboard battery had been dismounted and 



Lake Champlain 269 

silenced, determined to wind ship and thus bring his 
new and hitherto nnengaged port battery into play. 
His forethonght had provided him with the means to 
do this, and as the undaunted men strained at the haw- 
sers the gallant little corvette swung slowly about until 
presently the after gun of the port battery bore upon 
the Coniiance. When it sent its missile of death crash- 
ing through the side of the doomed frigate, the end of 
the battle began. 

Robertson, who had succeeded Downie in com- 
mand of the Coniiance, finding his own battery almost 
dismounted, attempted to emulate Macdonough's ma- 
noeuver, but for lack of proper prevision could not 
complete the evolution. His bower anchors had been 
shot away early in the fight, and his vessel only turned 
so that her bows faced the Saratoga as she swept about, 
and there she hung, absolutely helpless and immovable. 
Manning the port battery with eager avidity, the 
Americans on the Saratoga, heartily seconded by the 
Eagle, poured a tremendous raking fire into the Con- 
iiance. It was more than humanity could stand, and 
in a short time her colors were hauled down. 

She was a wreck. Her masts looked like bunches 
of match wood, and her sails like bundles of rags. 
Over one half of her crew had been killed or severely 
wounded. By the testimony of one of her own offi- 
cers, there were not five men left on her who had not 
some mark of the combat on them. The Saratoga 
was now swung again until her broadside bore upon 
the plucky Linnet, which had enjoyed immunity here- 
tofore on account of weightier matters, and for fifteen 
minutes she had made a chopping-block out of that 
devoted vessel. 

Pring, with a resolution so great that it cannot 
be too highly commended, fought his little brig to the 



270 American Fights and Fighters 

last, in the hope that the gunboats might come up and 
assist him, or something might happen, until she was 
a total wreck in fact, when, not getting the desired 
help, he reluctantly struck her colors. The battle 
was over. It was a little before twelve o'clock. The 
shattered British gunboats now surrendered to the 
Eagle and the Ticonderoga, but as the Americans were 
in no condition to take possession or to pursue, the 
English boats slowly drifted away and finally escaped, 
many of them in a sinking condition. 

Practically the whole British fleet had been cap- 
tured. I only know of three other instances when a 
whole fleet of ships was captured or destroyed — one 
was by Nelson at Aboukir, the second by Dewey at 
Manila, the third by Sampson at Santiago. The 
combat had lasted over two hours and a half without 
intermission, and had been fierce and bloody in the 
extreme. The attacks on Plattsburg by Wellington's 
veterans under Prevost — rather feebly delivered, to be 
sure — had been stoutly repulsed by Macomb's levies, 
who had made a most gallant defense, and when the 
news of the victory of Macdonough was carried 
ashore, Prevost withdrew incontinently, leaving a large 
part of his stores and munitions of war behind. New 
York was free from invasion and capture, and the stu- 
pendous victory of 'Macdonough played a great part 
in the treaty of peace which soon after ensued. 

Medals, swords, honors, prize money, grants of land, 
were poured upon the great seaman, who announced his 
victory in this modest despatch : "The Almighty has been 
pleased to grant us a signal victory on Lake Cham- 
plain in the capture of one frigate, one brig, and two 
sloops-of-war of the enemy." Spears, the naval his- 
torian, says, with all due respect to religion (he re- 
minds me of George Sampson in this), that for the pur- 



Lake Champlain 



271 



pose of rousing the seamen a rooster in the rigging is 
worth more than a dozen prayers on the quarter-deck ; 
but, without any undue piety, we may question his 
decision as to the relative value, even upon the sailor's 
mind, of the prayers to God of the humble-minded but 
high-spirited Christian commander and the shrill cry 
of the game cock in the shrouds. 

Macdonough died at sea, in 1825, while returning 
from the command of the European squadron. An 
anonymous writer in the " National Portrait Gallery " 
well sums him up in these words : " The great charm 
of his character was in the refinement of his taste, the 
purity of his principles, and the sincerity of his relig- 
ion. These gave a perfume to his name which the 
partial page of history seldom can retain for departed 
warriors, however brilliant their deeds." 



Afnerican 

Saratoga 

Eagle 

Ticonderoga 

Preble 

6 Gunboats 

4 Gunboats 



Total 



Tons 

500 

80 
420 
160 



Crew 
240 

112 

246 
104 



Gtins 

Lon^ Short 

8 18 

8 12 

12 5 

7 o 

6 6 

4 o 



2520 



937 



60 



Killed and 
Total ser. wd. 

57 



26 
20 
17 
7 
12 

4 



33 
12 

2 
3 
3 



Total 


2260 


882 


45 


41 


^(i 


no 


British 














Confiance 


1300 


325 


31 


6 


37 


180 


Lifinet 


350 


125 


16 





16 


50 


Chubb 


no 


50 


I 


10 


II 


20 


Finch 


no 


50 


4 


7 


II 


20 


5 Gunboats 


350 


205 


5 


5 


10 


|8o 


7 Gunboats 


280 


182 


3 


4 


7 



32 



92 



350 



• British Excess 
over American 



260 



55 



15 



J40 



REID AND THE GENERAL 
ARMSTRONG 



Way for the bold men of the privateers — the free- 
lances of the sea! The sails of their saucy clippers 
gleamed in the sunlight of every horizon, their stanch 
keels parted the waters of every ocean in their dashing 
pursuit of British merchantmen. With a valor which 
often equaled that of their better-trained naval breth- 
ren, they upheld the honor of the flag in all quarters 
of the globe. When resistance was made to their at- 
tacks they generally fought with credit and success, 
even, in many instances, against regularly commis- 
sioned war ships of the foe. With a persistency which 
Avas the despair of the British ship masters and owners, 
they flaunted their flags in the English Channel in the 
face of the fleets and squadrons of English men-of- 
war, and displayed their skill and courage in the dis- 
tant China seas as well. They searched the hidden 
recesses of the world for their prey, and no route of 
trade was so remote as to be safe from their ravages. 
The damage they inflicted and the part they played 
in bringing the War of 1812 to a close can hardly be 
overestimated. Their adventures are as romantic as , 

272 



Reid and the Armstrong 273 

the inventions of the noveHst. The story of their 
naval ruses, subterfuges, pursuits, fights, and flights, 
makes most brilHant history — history which, save in 
rare instances, has only been recorded in the most mea- 
ger way. They had no inconsiderable share in laying 
the foundation of the naval greatness of the United 
States, and though it cannot be denied that their first 
aim was plunder, yet their conduct in many a desperate 
little fight shows that patriotism and courage were, 
after all, master motives of their souls. There will be 
no more of them hereafter — international agreement 
has abolished them now — but the country should never 
forget their services in the two great wars we have 
fought with England. 

The most conspicuous of them all, for he fought 
the greatest fight in their records and the .most impor- 
tant, was Captain Samuel Chester Reid. It gives one 
who has an idea that there has been a great gulf fixed 
from time immemorial between England and the 
United States, something of a shock to find that he was 
the son of an English naval officer. This officer, while 
in charge of a boat expedition in the war of the Revo- 
lution, was captured by the rebellious colonists, and 
when he had been sufficiently persuaded of the justice 
of their cause, he resigned his commission in the Brit- 
ish navy and entered the American service. It may 
be that Miss Rebecca Chester, whose people were brave 
soldiers and stanch supporters of the Revolution, had 
something to do with the decision at which he arrived ; 
at any rate, he married her in 1781, and to them, in 
1783, the year of the peace, was born the great pri- 
vateer. 

He came of distinguished ancestry on both sides of 
the house, his father being a direct descendant of the 



274 American Fights and Fighters 

Lord High Admiral of Scotland in the great days of 
Bruce; while the Chesters were of old colonial and 
English stock, none better, counting lords and earls 
galore among them. Young Reid was therefore 
brought up like a gentleman to adorn that station in 
life unto which it had pleased God to call him, and in 
every way he proved worthy of his sires. His first 
choice of a profession was the navy — following in the 
footsteps of the Lord High Admiral aforesaid — and he 
learned some good lessons while still a young boy from 
that past master of seamanship, discipline, and hard, 
close fighting, Thomas Truxtun, in whose squadron he 
served as a midshipman in the frigate Baltimore in the 
French war. For various reasons, however, at the 
close of that little war he entered the mercantile marine, 
and, rising rapidly to command rank, became widely 
known as a bold and successful navigator and captain. 
About the middle of the year 1814 he was given 
command, by her owners, of the General Armstrong, 
a small New York privateer, brigantine rigged, and 
one of the smartest, most noted, and successful of her 
class. She had already proved, under her other gal- 
lant commanders, that she could not only prey but 
fight. She had just returned from her fifth lucky 
cruise. I suppose her to have been of about two hun- 
dred tons burden, one hundred and twenty feet long 
over all, and about thirty feet in beam. Her armament 
consisted of seven guns — three long nines in each 
broadside and a long twenty-four pounder on a pivot 
amidships, in sea parlance a ''Long Tom." Her crew 
and officers numbered ninety men. They had been 
selected, by Reid himself, with especial care, and were 
probably quite up to the high standard which obtained 
on that most gallant frigate, the United States ship 



Reid and the Armstrong 275 

Constitution herself. On account of the high wages 
paid and the liberal prize money accruing from the 
captures in a successful cruise, in which the men were 
all interested, it was not difficult to secure desirable 
men for a crew. Indeed, with the exception of some 
of the more famous frigates, the pick of the seamen 
of the nation were on the privateers and letters-of 
marque. 

The twenty-sixth of September, 18 14, found Reid 
and the Armstrong at the island of Fayal, in the 
Azores. He had run the blockade off New York about 
the middle of the month, distancing all pursuers by his 
great speed, and had stopped at the island on his voyage 
to the English Channel for food and Vi-ater. The bay 
of Da Horta, the principal town and seaport of the 
island of Fayal, is crescent shaped and is surrounded 
by a sea wall* with the old castle of Santa Cruz, even 
then an obsolete fortification, at the base of the cres- 
cent. Opposite to the entrance of the bay, on a neigh- 
boring island, boldly rises the splendid mountain called 
Pico, to a height of nearly eight thousand feet, and on 
all sides are lofty mountains and hills which descend 
in beetling crags and wild ravines to the water's edge. 

Having speedily fulfilled his errand, the American 
skipper had gone ashore to call upon and dine with the 
United States Consul, Mr. Dabney, and after dinner 
had brought him, and a party of gentlemen with him, 
off^ to inspect his vessel. Just about sunset the spars 
of a large brig-of-war, flying English colors, were 
discovered making around the rocky headlands which 
bound the entrance to the harbor. The brig, it was 
soon discovered, was followed by two other large ships, 
still some distance away. It was the first time any 
English war vessels had been in the harbor for months. 



276 American Fights and Fighters 

The Portuguese pilot had told the English commodore 
of the arrival of the privateer, and he came into the 
harbor with his squadron with the deliberate purpose 
of effecting her capture. 

In spite of Consul Dabney's assurances, it instantly 
occurred to the wary and experienced Reid that the 
neutrality of the place would not be respected by the 
English. It seems to be a general practice among na- 
tions to disregard the so-called laws of neutrality with 
perfect equanimity, provided they feel themselves able 
and willing to abide the consequences. England has 
done it on several occasions, and the United States has 
not hesitated to follow her example as late as in the 
Civil War, so we can cast no stones in this case. So 
Reid sent his guests post-haste ashore, and began to 
warp his vessel closer into the harbor. The English 
brig, which proved to be the Carnation, eighteen guns, 
Commander George Bentham, did not waste any time. 
She had hardly dropped anchor in the harbor before she 
exchanged signals with the other ships, and then put 
out four boats, crowded with about a hundred and 
twenty armed men, who, wnth the usual British intre- 
pidity, made straight for the Armstrong. 

Reid left the business of warping in to a more con- 
venient season, dropped anchor temporarily, called his 
men to quarters, and, as the menacing boats rapidly 
drew near, he repeatedly hailed them, to discover their 
purpose, warning them to desist from their approach 
or come on at their peril. There was not the least 
doubt as to the character of the movement in any ra- 
tional mind. The armed men were in plain sight, as 
the moon flooded the placid waters of the bay 
with a soft, autumnal splendor. The English disdain- 
ing to make any reply to his hails and urging their 



Reid and the Armstrong 277 

boats persistently onward, Reid opened the fight with 
a severe, well-directed fire from the great guns of his 
battery and his small arms, to which the enemy replied 
with boat guns and an ineffective musketry fire. 

A very few minutes were sufficient to determine 
this event; only one boat touched the American, and 
most of those in her were killed or wounded. The 
other boats stopped rowing, and the officers called for 
quarter; then, while Reid, who might have sunk the 
whole business without difficulty, mercifully held his 
fire, the boats turned tail, and, with a large number of 
killed and wounded on board, made their way back to 
the brig. They had hoped to carry the Armstrong by 
a coup-dc-moin, but had met with a most discouraging 
and costly repulse instead. The privateer had only 
one man killed, and her first lieutenant, a brother of 
the noted General Worth, of the United States Army, 
severely wounded. Two more masterful players en- 
tered the game at this juncture, however, in the shape 
of his Britannic Majesty's frigate Rota, 38, Captain 
Philip Somerville, followed by his Britannic Majesty's 
huge ship-of-the-line Plantagenct, 74, Commodore 
Robert Lloyd, who commanded the squadron. This 
raised the effective force of the enemy to nearly two 
hundred guns and twelve hundred men. 

It was soon evident that Commodore Lloyd intended 
to take up the frustrated attempt of the Carnation, for 
boats were called away from all three ships to the num- 
ber of twelve. This statement is made upon the testi- 
mony of unimpeachable witnesses, among them Captain 
Reid and Consul Dabney, a fine old gentleman of the 
highest reputation, who stood upon shore in full sight 
of the battle, with many other observers, some of 
whom go so far as to say there were fourteen boats, 



278 American Fights and Fighters 

though the British allow there were but seven. These 
boats were loaded with nearly four hundred and fifty 
men. They were towed in by the brig, and then ren- 
dezvoused in three divisions under the lee of the little 
reef just beyond gunshot range from the Armstrong, 
while they matured their plans for the contemplated 
attack. 

Meanwhile Reid and his gallant crew, not in the 
least alarmed by this display of overwhelming force, 
had completed their preparations to receive and repel 
the expected onslaught. The Armstrong had been 
warped within a short distance of the shore, where she 
lay under the useless and silent guns of the Portuguese 
castle. Two of the guns on the unengaged side of her 
had been shifted over to face the enemy, through ports 
cut in the rail for them. All the small arms in the 
brigantine — of which she had a great many, the pistols 
actually being in bucketsful — had been charged and 
placed close at hand. Boarding nettings, made of 
heavily tarred rope, had been triced up from one end 
of the ship to the other. The cutlasses, boarding axes, 
and pikes were distributed to the men, who were all 
provided with steel and leather boarding caps. Reid 
commanded upon the quarter-deck, his lieutenants in 
the waist and forward. 

Pending any movement of the British, the men 
were allowed to rest beside the guns, while the officers 
and a few of the older and more experienced seamen 
kept watch. It was a strange picture the stars looked 
down upon that calm September night. That little 
vessel was surrounded by grim and threatening an- 
tagonists. Her crew was menaced by an overwhelm- 
ing force, which outnumbered them five to one ; yet 
we are told the hardy men slept on the white deck of 



Reid and the Armstrong 2'-jg 

the privateer, under the shadow of the great peaks 
and mountains of the island, as soundly and peace- 
fully as though they had heen at home. There was 
something notable, too, in the spirit which their 
quiet slumber betokened, of their confidence and 
trust in the officers, to whom they looked up as the 
American sailor has ever looked up to those who led 
him. More notable still Avas their willingness to 
fight an absolutely hopeless battle, in which they had 
everything to lose and nothing whatever to gain, ex- 
cept the consciousness of having upheld the honor of 
the American flag against tremendous odds. 

About twelve o'clock, under the lead of Lieutenant 
William Matterface, the first lieutenant of the Plan- 
tagcnct, the flotilla of boats moved out around the reef, 
and in line ahead — i. c, a long, single column — swept 
down upon the Armstrong. The midshipmen and 
other junior officers ran along the decks of the pri- 
vateer and awakened the sleeping men, who sprang 
quietly to their stations. The stillness of the night 
was broken only by the rustle of the oars in the row- 
locks and the splash of the dark water parted by the 
bows of the boats or tossed up in the air by the feather- 
ing blades of the oars, to sparkle in the moonlight. 
The men on the Armstrong, so far as the attacking 
party could see, might have been asleep or dead. 

The shore was fairly crowded with spectators now, 
who held their breath while watching the advance and 
awaiting the denouement. Out in the harbor the men 
left upon the ships swarmed in black clusters in the 
rigging at eager gaze. The officers of the English 
men-of-war were closely grouped on the different quar- 
ter-decks eagerly scanning the Armstrong through 
their night-glasses. With what apprehension Dabney 



28o American Fights and Fighters 

and his son and the few Americans on shore watched 
the British draw near ! It was a moment fraught with 
the most intense anxiety. Would the Armstrong 
never fire ? Was Reid asleep or dead ? Had she been 
abandoned by her crew ? Ah, what was that ! 

A flash of light tore through the gray darkness. A 
cloud of smoke broke out amidships on the privateer, 
and a roar like thunder echoed and reechoed among 
the surrounding hills. "Long Tom" had spoken ! The 
battle was on. Before the echo had died away the 
other guns in the starboard battery, which had been 
trained upon the advancing line, spoke in quick succes- 
sion, and sent their messengers of death out over the 
dark waters. The head of the column was smashed to 
pieces by the discharge. The first boat was completely 
disabled, and the shower of American grape shot did 
great execution all along the line. With the courage 
of their race, the stalwart English broke into loud 
cheers, and, manfully tugging at the oars, swept 
around the wrecked boat and dashed into close action 
at once. The boat carronnades in the bows of the 
launches now rang out, adding their sharp notes to the 
confusion of the exciting moment, as they returned 
the Armstrong's fire. The men of the privateer re- 
mained grimly silent, for Reid's command had been : 

"No cheering, lads, till we have beat them off and 
gained the victory !" 

There was no time for either side to load its artil- 
lery again before the first boat crashed against the 
side of the privateer, and the leading man sprang up 
on her low rail. He clutched the netting, which barred 
his passage, and shortening his sword hacked franti- 
cally at it. He was a fair and easy mark to an old man- 
of-war's man on the brigantine, who buried a half-pike 



Reid and the Armstrong 281 

deep in his bosom. He had scarcely fallen back before 
others, undaunted by his fate, gallantly sprang to the 
rail and took his place. Encouraged and led by their 
officers, the English strove to board on every hand, 
and the action at once became general. The boats 
ranged themselves about the engaged side of the Arm- 
strong as hounds surround a wild boar at bay. One 
division attacked forward, the other in the waist, and 
the last and strongest endeavored to gain the quarter. 

For a few moments the roar of the great guns was 
succeeded by the sharp crackle of the small arms, the 
pistols and muskets of the marines ; and the darkness 
was punctured by vivid flashes of fire, in lurid contrast 
to the moon's pale light. But these ringing reports 
gradually died away, and as there was no time to re- 
charge the guns the conflict resolved itself into an old- 
fashioned hand to hand encounter. There was dis- 
played the old knightly courage on both sides, which 
had left a glorious record of many a bloody fray in 
centuries of history. 

The cheers, shouts, curses, and groans of the des- 
perate men, mad with the blood lust of the fight, the 
ringing of steel on steel, as sword gritted against 
sword, or axe crashed on boarding cap, or bayonet 
crossed half-pike in the dreadful fray, filled the hearts 
of the spectators near by on the shore with horror. 
The British, in overwhelming numbers, though at a 
disadvantage as regards position, striving determinedly 
to make good a footing on the deck, fought with the 
same indomitable courage as their American brethren. 
Most gallantly led, again and again they sprang at 
the rail, officer after officer fell, man after man was 
cut down; the stout arms of the privateersmen grew 
weary with hacking, and hewing, and slaughtering men. 



282 American Fights and Fighters 

The boarding netting was at last nearly cut to pieces, 
and the way was clear for an entrance. Although the 
slight success came too late to be of much service, a 
lodgment was finally effected forward in the forecastle 
by way of the bowsprit; one of the American lieuten- 
ants in command there had been killed, the other 
wounded. 

At this moment Reid himself, the only officer of 
rank now left on deck, after a brief rally with swords 
between them, in which he was slightly wounded, suc- 
ceeded in cutting down Matterface, the English leader, 
who had been engaged in a last desperate endeavor to 
effect a lodgment on the quarter-deck. All danger 
from further attack there was over. Some of the 
boats of this division were sheering off slowly, manned 
by a few oarsmen ; others, full of silent dead and 
shrieking wounded, were aimlessly drifting about. 
The party attacking the waist had fared little better. 
Alarmed by the cries in the bows, and seeing that the 
enemy near him had been effectively disposed of, the 
captain led a dashing charge forward, and speedily 
cleared the forecastle. It was all over. That was the 
expiring effort of the British. The}^ hurried away as 
they were able, in full retreat. They had been totally 
beaten. 

Two of the boats wxre captured, two of them had 
been sunk, two others drifted ashore and were aban- 
doned by the remainder of their crews — all but three 
of the sixty or seventy men they originally contained 
being killed or wounded ! In one of the boats all were 
killed but four. Most of the boats which escaped 
regained their respective ships, with the greatest diffi- 
culty, in a sinking condition, not only from the fire of 
the American heavy guns, but on account of having 



Reid and the Annstrong 283 

been stove in by solid shot hurled into them by the 
Americans. The total loss was at least two hundred 
and fifty men on the part of the British, nearly half of 
whom were killed and the others severely wounded. 
The Americans had two killed and only seven wounded ! 
It seems incredible, but it is true, though the British 
admit only about half of the losses ascribed to them. 

This desperate and bloody action had lasted forty 
minutes, and in its sanguinary results is unparalleled. 
Victory had a second time crowned the efforts of Reid 
and his undaunted men. I picture them, some pale as 
death from their exhausting labors, others with faces 
engorged with Blood and trembling still with the pas- 
sion generated in the fight, grouped about their heroic 
captain on those bloody decks, looking wildly out upon 
the drifting, shattered, sinking boats, with their dread- 
ful cargoes. It was time now and they began cheer- 
ing madly in triumph in the still night. They had a 
right to cheer. Such a fight as they had fought and 
such a victory as they had won it has been given to 
but few* on this earth to participate in. 

Not much damage had been done to the privateer 
either. The boarding netting had been cut to pieces, 
some of the guns, including the "Long Tom," had 
been dismounted by the shots from the boat carron- 
nades, but a few hours sufficed to put everything to 
rights again. Sending his dead and wounded ashore, 
and with the remaining men asleep in sheer exhaustion 
at their quarters again, Reid waited for the next move. 
At daybreak the Carnation weighed anchor, sheeted 
home her topsails, and got under way. When she came 
within range she opened a fierce cannonade from her 
heavy guns upon the privateer, which did much dam- 
age to the vessel, though producing no casualties 



284 American Fights and Fighters 

among the crew. Reid and his men met and returned 
the attack with the same splendid spirit they had all 
along- exhibited, discharging the guns of their smaller 
battery with a calm deliberation which enabled them to 
do great execution. After a short and fierce engage- 
ment the Carnation prudently withdrew from the com- 
bat, her foretopmast having been shot away and her 
other head-gear much damaged, with several more of 
her crew killed and wounded, mainly by shot from 
"Long Tom," which, carefully and skilfully served, 
had again saved the day. This was victory number 
three. 

The Portuguese governor meanwhile was protesting 
against the violation of neutrality, and requesting 
Commodore Lloyd to desist from the fighting. He 
was informed in reply that the English intended to cap- 
ture the privateer if they had to bring the ship-of-the- 
line in and bombard the town to do it. Seeing the use- 
lessness of further resistance, and having maintained 
the honor of the American flag, as few men have been 
able to do, after fighting a battle which is without 
parallel in naval annals, and having acquired glory 
sufficient to satisfy any reasonable man, Reid deter- 
mined, upon the advice of Dabney and others to sink 
his ship, so the "Long Tom" which had done such 
splendid execution was swung in board and pointed 
down the hatchway and discharged. The Armstrong 
went down from the shot from her own guns. Reid 
and his men, after spiking the great guns, throwing 
overboard the powder and small arms and removing 
their private belongings, escaped to the shore. A boat 
party from the British boarded the sinking ship, and 
set what remained of her above the water on fire. 

The loss in the first and third attack probably 



Reid and the Armstrong 285 

raised the British total to nearly three hundred, though 
it had not increased that of the Americans. There are 
several fleet actions on record in which the British won 
glorious victories without inflicting or receiving so 
much damage as they got in the combat with this little 
insignificant privateer. The English commander-in- 
chief was furious with rage at the results of the action, 
so much so that he never made proper report of it to 
the home authorities, but the statements here given are 
supported by unimpeachable evidence. Lloyd was so 
angered that he insisted that there were British de- 
serters among the escaped American crew on shore, and 
actually compelled the Portuguese commander of the 
island to have the seamen mustered, that he might in- 
spect them. He didn't find any deserters, or at least 
he did not try to take any, which showed a late dis- 
cretion on his part. One of two ships-of-war which 
soon joined Lloyd's squadron was finally sent back to 
England with the wounded. 

The action had an importance far beyond its imme- 
diate results in this way : The three English ships were 
destined to form a part of the fleet rendezvousing at 
Jamaica to convey Pakenham's army of Wellington's 
veterans to the attack on New Orleans. A delay of 
ten days was caused by the necessity of burying the 
dead, attending the wounded, and repairing the brig 
and boats at Fayal, consequently the fleet at Jamaica, 
which this squadron finally joined, was also delayed 
ten days in its departure, to the great indignation of its 
admiral. This was just the time that was required 
to permit the doughty Andrew Jackson to assemble 
that army and make those preparations by which he 
was enabled to win one of the most astonishing vic- 
tories that was ever achieved upon the land, so that 



286 American Fights and Fighters 

the stout and hard fighting of Reid and the men of the 
General Armstrong proved of incalculable service to 
their country. Moral : It is always best for the fighter 
to fight to the end, whatever the odds; for upon the 
action of the moment the whole future may depend. 

Reid himself was received with the greatest honor 
on his return to America, and the usual rewards in the 
way of swords, pieces of plate, banquets, etc., were 
showered upon him. It is a noteworthy fact in his 
subsequent history that he made the design for the 
present American flag; heretofore a star and a stripe 
had been added for every new State, and it was due to 
his suggestion that the flag took its present shape. For 
this he was thanked by Congress. Later in his life he 
was placed upon the navy list and retired. After this 
he lived a long life of eminent usefulness in New York, 
where he was held in the highest respect and honor. 
His funeral, in 1861, was a national affair, and some 
of his immediate descendants are still living. As a 
specimen of a bold, daring seaman, a magnificent 
fighter, a true patriot, and a high-toned gentleman, he 
ranks with the very best, and no one should stand 
higher in the affections of the people of the land 
than he. 

" Since writing the above I have received word from a creditable source 
that in the first attack one of the boats had its bottom stove by the fall of a 
grindstone which had been balanced on the rail, and rolled into the boat 
by a sailor named Granniss." 



THE DEFENSE OF LOUISIANA— THE 
LAST BATTLE WITH ENGLAND 



At half after one o'clock on the afternoon of December 
23, 1 81 4, a little party of officers in the parlor of a 
dwelling house used as headquarters, on Royal Street, 
New Orleans, Louisiana, who were earnestly engaged 
in conversation, were interrupted by the entrance of 
three gentlemen, who had galloped post-haste to the 
door. One of them wore the brilliant uniform of the 
Louisiana Creole Light Infantry. The other two 
were older men, evidently planters. The young offi- 
cer was Major Gabriel Villere. He bore startling 
news, which he proceeded to tell in French, as he was 
unable to speak English, one of the planters interpret- 
ing for him. 

He said that the little outpost guarding Bayou Bien- 
venu had been surprised that morning, and subse- 
quently he himself and all his people had been captured 
on the Villere plantation, his father's home; but that, 
being negligently guarded, he had seized a horse, gal- 
loped away under a shower of balls, and escaped. The 
British were out in full force about ten miles away, 
and were marching up the dry ground between the 

287 



288 American Fights and Fighters 

river and the morasses inland. If they continued their 
march they might probahly reach the city of New Or- 
leans that night. 

"By the Eternal !" said the chief of the officers in 
the room, Andrew Jackson, of Tennessee, a very tall 
and very thin man, with reddish-gray hair brushed 
straight up from his high forehead, his piercing blue 
eyes sparkling with fire and detennination — "by the 
Eternal," he repeated, bringing his hand down upon the 
table, "they shall not sleep upon our soil this night!" 

The man was dreadfully emaciated, worn to a skele- 
ton by wasting disease, utterly broken in health, and 
at that moment suffering from a dreadful wound in the 
shoulder, which had been inflicted months before in a 
duel and which prevented him from ever wearing the 
heavy bullion epaulet of his rank, which was that of 
Major-General in the Regular Army of the United 
States. But such greatness of spirit looked out of his 
eyes, such indomitable resolution was evidenced by the 
straight, tense lines of his mouth and his square jaws 
that it was easy to see that here was a man who would 
exercise command, sickness or no sickness, until he 
was laid in his grave. 

He had enjoyed no opportunity for perfecting him- 
self in the technical art of soldiering; true, as a boy, 
he had fought in the partizan warfare which devas- 
tated the Carolinas in the Revolution, during which he 
had been wounded, captured, starved — he knew all 
about that part of it. He had learned to look into the 
cold barrel of a pistol without flinching, too, through 
many duels, some of them dreadful in character, in 
which he had been a principal. He had been a Mem- 
ber of Congress, a Senator, and United States District 
Attorney, when to be a district attorney on the fron- 



The Defense of Louisiana 289 

tiers was to invite destruction. He had just termi- 
nated successfully, after unheard-of hardships and the 
exhibition of the most heroic resolution and courage, 
one of the most famous campaigns ever carried on 
against the Indians, and for this had been made the 
junior Major-General in the Regular Army. 

He had come to New Orleans, on the second of De- 
cember, fresh from the conquest of Pensacola, which 
he had taken by storm from the Spaniards because the 
place had been used by the British as a base from which 
to make forays and incursions into the American terri- 
tory. Incidentally, also, the troops under his com- 
mand had repulsed a British attack on Mobile, Major 
Lawrence, at Fort Bowyer, having beaten off four Brit- 
ish ships-of-war and a landing party of six hundred 
men, one of the British ships being burned and sunk 
after heavy loss in men. 

The spirit of the people of New Orleans was very 
high, but they were without a head, and they wel- 
comed the advent of the general from Tennessee with 
the greatest joy, seconding his efforts for the raising 
and equipment of an army for the defense of the city 
in every possible way. Jackson was a natural leader, 
popular with his men, and knew instinctively the best 
disposition to make of the motley forces under his com- 
mand. When Villere brought the news all the avail- 
able troops, amounting to but three or four thousand 
men, including the militia, were in camp north of the 
city. Messengers were sent galloping in every direc- 
tion, bidding them take up the line of march. They 
responded to their orders with alacrity, and the roads 
were soon covered with armed men marching gaily 
through the city toward the south. 

On the river there were two armed vessels, a sloop- 



290 American Fights and Fighters 

of-war, the Louisiana, commanded by Commodore 
Patterson, and the schooner Carolina, Captain Henly, 
whom we saw at Lake Champlain. Word was des- 
patched to the ships, and they immediately cleared for 
action and dropped down the river. They were im- 
portant factors in Jackson's brilliant plan of attack. 
The news brought by Major Villere was alarming in 
the last degree. The troops he had seen were an ad- 
vance guard of two thousand men of a powerful Brit- 
ish army five times as great. They had appeared in 
their ships a few days before off the Passes in the Delta, 
through which the Mississippi gains the sea. There 
were over fifty vessels in the convoy, including the 
powerful fleet of Admiral Cockburn's ships-of-the-line. 
They had sailed from Jamaica a month before bearing 
a large army of Wellington's veterans which had been 
transported thither from their successful maraud in 
Virginia and Maryland, which had resulted in the cap- 
ture and destruction of Washington, to which point 
they had come straight from the Garonne. Ross, their 
commander, had been killed before Baltimore, and 
Brigadier-General Keane, a younger soldier, was in 
charge. Reinforcements and other generals were even 
then speeding across the water as fast as wind could 
drive them. 

There was no way to take the ships-of-the-line, or 
even the frigates and transports, up the river, and if 
the city was to be captured by the troops their only 
mode of access to it would be by Lakes Borgne and 
Ponchartrain. To prevent this, there was a little 
American force on Lake Borgne consisting of five gun- 
boats, each carrying one heavy gun and several smaller 
ones, and manned by from twenty to thirty men, under 
the command of Lieutenant Thomas ap-Catesby Jones, 



The Defense of Louisiana 291 

the third officer of that name to distinguish himself in 
the early service. His total force amounted to less 
than two hundred men and fourteen available guns in 
broadside. 

The British attacked him with forty-two boats, car- 
rying as many guns and over one thousand men. 
There was absolutely no hope of successful resistance, 
yet no one thought of surrender or flight, and there 
was a hotly contested battle on the lake, in which sev- 
eral of the British boats were sunk with heavy loss, 
but which finally resulted in the capture of the entire 
American flotilla, after a series of desperate hand to 
hand conflicts, in which the Americans were overpow- 
ered by force of numbers and only gave way when 
nearly one fourth of them had been killed or wounded, 
among the latter being their gallant commander. 

The British then surprised the picket post on Bayou 
Bienvenu, and marched up the river on the only firm 
ground in that part of the country. If Keane had 
pushed on vigorously after the escape of Major Vil- 
lere, instead of halting to entrench and reconnoiter, it 
is more than probable that he would have effected the 
capture of the unprepared city at once. Jackson's 
quick decision to attack him without delay, which usu- 
ally receives but little attention in the consideration 
exacted by the greater battle which followed, was more 
of an indication of the high natural military instinct 
which he possessed than anything else in his life. 

The land upon which the British were encamped, was 
samewhat lower than the level of the great Mississippi, 
which was here confined by immense retaining walls 
of earth called levees. About half after seven in the 
evening the British pickets on the levee noticed a 
schooner dropping silently down the river, grim and 



292 American Fights and Fighters 

ghostlike in the night. The boat was hailed, and one 
or two muskets were fired at her, but no answer was 
elicited. She came to anchor opposite the camp, de- 
liberately made her preparations, and then the aston- 
ished sentries heard a stout voice cry, "Give them this, 
lads, for the honor of the United States !" 

The sides of the schooner burst into flame, and a 
whole broadside of grape at short range was poured 
into the crowded British camp. Numbers clustered 
about the campfires were killed or wounded. The 
eager men tramped out the fires as if by magic, and 
sought instant shelter from the deadly rain of shot 
which came from the Carolina's guns by crouching 
under the lee of the river embanlcment. There were 
but two guns in the camp, little three-pounders, and 
about as efficient as popguns under the circumstances. 
There was nothing for the English to do but to hide 
away and bide their time. So long as they remained 
under the cover of the levee they were reasonably safe, 
though they could get nothing to eat and could not 
occupy their tents. They were good soldiers, how- 
ever, and made the best of their situation, philosophi- 
cally disposing themselves to pass the night in their un- 
comfortable position as best they could. 

Their rest, if they got any, was interrupted by a 
rifle shot from the landward flank of their position 
about eight o'clock at night. The shot was succeeded 
by another and another, and then by a perfect fusillade 
of small arms from all sides. It was Jackson deliver- 
ing his attack. He had skilfully disposed his men so 
as to surround the enemy. Though his total force was 
no greater than the British, the latter were cornered. 
Necessarily, since the Americans had arrived on the 
scene, the fire of the Carolina was stopped. The Brit- 



The Defense of Louisiana 293 

ish soon found this out, and rushed to meet their mid- 
night assailants with their usual dogged courage. 
Then ensued in that darkness a demoniacal struggle, 
utterly unlike any battle that had occurred heretofore 
on the continent. Rain fell in torrents. Firearms 
became useless, and the bayonets of the English crossed 
the long hunting knives of the Kentuckians in a deadly 
death grapple in the black air, in the series of bitter 
hand to hand conflicts. 

The general and his staff were in the thick of it all, 
and he was personally engaged. After continuing the 
struggle for several hours, Jackson drew off his troops, 
in fairly good order, about ten o'clock in the evening, 
and retreated a few miles up the river behind the 
Rodriguez Canal, an abandoned watercourse, and en- 
trenched himself at the narrowest pass, where the dis- 
tance between the river bank and the impassable mo- 
rass was the shortest. The Carolina, now seconded 
by the Louisiana, opened fire again, and once more 
dominated the situation. Jackson had effected his ob- 
ject. With a loss of about three hundred men he had 
paralyzed the advance of the British army. They 
would remain where they were, he felt certain, and 
make no offensive movement whatever until reinforce- 
ments were brought up, and that would give him what 
he most earnestly desired, and what is of vital impor- 
tance to every military commander — time. 

The British had lost over five hundred in killed and 
wounded in this audacious attack, and were so thor- 
oughly and completely astonished by their rough hand- 
ling that they dreamed of nothing but holding their 
position and sending for reinforcements ; all idea of ad- 
vance was abandoned. It was no use even to consider 
it; for the American ships made a direct target out of 



294 American Fights and Fighters 

every individual who ventured to show himself for a 
moment behind the levee. 

The British soldiers were the best on earth and Jack- 
son knew that his troops — with the possible exception 
of the Tennesseans — who were all of them without 
bayonets, could never have met them in the open with 
any prospect of success ; therefore he contented himself 
with strengthening his entrenchments, assiduously 
drilling his men constantly in such military tactics as 
he was familiar with himself, and in sending expresses 
and recjuisitions for help and supplies in every di- 
rection. 

The militia of Louisiana turned out nobly. So, by 
the way, did La Fitte, the last of the buccaneers and 
his pirate crew. The citizens were fighting in de- 
fense of their homes. It was well understood that if 
New Orleans, which was then a populous and 
wealthy city of some thirty thousand people, and a 
place of the greatest commercial importance, for the 
whole trade of the Mississippi valley passed through it, 
were captured, that it was to be sacked by the soldiery. 
If one wishes to know to what excesses the British 
soldiery could descend in the sacking of a town he need 
only read the descriptions of similar affairs by Lord 
Napier in his great "Peninsula Campaign." The sol- 
diers of Tilly, at the famous storming of Magdeburg, 
could not have been more lustful, brutal, wanton and 
ferocious. Said British soldiery at that time could 
almost have given pointers to a Geronimo Apache. 

The main reliance of Jackson, however, was upon 
the famous riflemen from Kentucky and Tennessee 
under Coffey and Carroll. They knew little about 
manoeuyers or tactics. The school of the soldier was 
a thing of which they had heard little, and about which 



The Defense of Louisiana 295 

Ihey cared less ; but they could shoot and shoot straight 
and shoot fast and keep it up. Nothing could exceed 
their courage. They had fought under their general 
before and knew what manner of man he was. They 
loved him even for his faults and the enemies he had 
made, and most excellently officered, could be depended 
upon to the last gasp. There was also a small but 
efficient contingent of regular troops. 

Matters remained in statu quo for two days, until 
Christmas, when Sir Edward Pakenham, a brother-in- 
law to the Iron Duke, arrived from England to take 
command of the army. He was accompanied by Gen- 
eral Samuel Gibbs, and was followed soon after by 
General John Lambert, with several regiments of men 
who, with the officers named, were all veterans and had 
been taught in the splendid school of Wellington. 

Pakenham had especially distinguished himself in 
the Peninsula. He was a man of the highest personal 
gallantry and much military skill and experience. At 
the Battle of Salamanca, the charge which he led at the 
head of his division had saved the day. He expected 
to make an easy conquest of the "backwoods general" 
and add new laurels to his wreath by the capture of 
New Orleans. A peerage would probably reward his 
success. 

He found Keane's army still clinging desperately to 
the lee side of the levee. Under his orders a battery of 
heavy guns was landed from the ships, and on the 
evening of the 26th they set fire to the Carolina with 
red hot shot. She was windbound at the time and 
after making a gallant defense with the single long 
gun which would bear, she blew up. The Louisiana, 
further away, managed to tow out of range and es- 
cape. 



296 American Fights and Fighters 

Pakenham then determined upon a reconnoissance 
in force. There were some plantation buildings in 
front of the American line, and as his troops came 
marching along the level ground on the morning of 
the twenty-eighth of December they were concealed 
until they advanced beyond the buildings. As soon 
as they passed them they were met by such a discharge 
of artillery as convinced Pakenham that the works 
were far stronger than he had anticipated. The build- 
ings were set on fire by the American shot. After 
marching his men up to the old canal in front of the 
American fortifications, losing many of them by the 
way, the troops withdrew, having effected nothing be- 
yond informing themselves of the strength of the 
American position. This affair is sometimes called 
the Battle of Chalmette's plantation. 

On the other side of the river the navy had erected 
a formidable water battery by landing some of the 
Louisiana's heavy guns, which enfiladed and thus pro- 
tected the front of Jackson's entrenchments. Jackson 
himself had a motley lot of artillery mounted be- 
tween embrasures made of cotton bales, the heaviest 
gun being an old thirty-two-pounder. Pakenham 
now resolved to begin a regular siege of the American 
position. Consequently very early in the morning of 
January i, 181 5, his troops advanced silently to within 
three hundred yards of the American entrenchments, 
and cautiously opened a parallel. Their fortifications 
were made of barrels of sugar, of which there were a 
great number in the various plantations. 

When the fog lifted about ten o'clock the Americans, 
who were holding dress parade in front of their en- 
trenchments in honor of New Year's Day, were aston- 
ished to see the frowning batteries of the British. 



The Defense of Louisiana 297 

They scampered back in hot haste to their positions, 
and a cannonade immediately began, which lasted the 
greater part of the morning. The British guns were 
silenced, the sugar barrels were knocked to pieces, and 
proved no protection whatever. The Louisiana and 
the water battery on the other side had done dreadful 
execution with their raking fire. Pakenham withdrew 
his troops at once, and succeeded, through the gal- 
lantry of some of the seamen of the ships, in saving 
all his guns. On the American side the cotton bales 
forming the embrasures were set on fire or knocked out 
of place, and were afterward supplanted by the soft, 
muddy earth of the Delta. 

The American mounted riflemen now harassed the 
British camp continually on every side. The life of a 
sentry on the picket line was always in jeopardy. For- 
aging was decidedly unsafe. The Louisiana and the 
water batteries sent balls from their long guns toward 
the British camp at regular intervals day and night, 
so that the men got neither sleep nor rest. Pakenham 
and his lieutenants chafed under the annoying position, 
and, irritated by the taunts of that valiant house- 
burner. Admiral Cockburn, who threatened to land his 
marines and do up the job himself, they at last resolved 
upon a final attempt. 

Pakenham's plan was an excellent one — indeed, the 
only possible one under the circumstances. He deter- 
mined to detach a large body of men under Colonel 
Thornton, one of his most efficient officers, and send 
them across the river to capture the water battery and 
the Louisiana, which were defended by about a thou- 
sand inefficient militiamen, then turn their guns upon 
Jackson's line, upon which, with the balance of his 
army, he would deliver a direct assault in force. In 



298 American Fights and Fighters 

order to get the boats of the ships into the Mississippi 
to ferry over the troops, a canal was cut through from 
Lake Borgne, with great labor, by the soldiers. 

The morning of January 8, 18 15 (Sunday), was 
selected for the attack. When Thornton reached the 
canal, however, he found that instead of boats for fif- 
teen hundred men he only had transportation for about 
four hundred. He was delayed in getting even those 
in motion by the caving in of the banks of the canal, 
and when he reached the Mississippi he was swept 
down for two miles below his projected landing place 
by the swift current. Pakenham, meanwhile, ignorant 
of all these mishaps, had put his army in motion, and 
had crept slowly up toward the American works in 
the gray of the morning. It was four o'clock when 
the British columns reached their designated positions. 
They waited and waited in vain for the signal from 
Thornton to begin the attack. 

Three thousand men, under Generals Gibbs and 
Keane, were to assault the left of the American line; 
one thousand men, led by Colonel Rennie, were to at- 
tack the right; the Ninety-third Highlanders, eight 
hundred strong, a splendid regiment of hard-praying 
and hard-fighting Caledonians, just in from the Cape 
of Good Hope, under Colonel Dale, were to attack the 
center; and a reserve of two regiments, about fifteen 
hundred strong, under General Lambert, were to fol- 
low up whichever one of the attacks was the most suc- 
cessful. Pakenham had been told by a deserter that 
the left of the American line was the weakest point, 
which was true at the time. Jackson, however, had 
fortunately reinforced it on the day before the battle 
with a strong body of the Tennessee riflemen. 

As the mists rolled away the Americans saw the 



The Defense of Louisiana 299 

vivid scarlet lines of the British advancing upon them. 
It was six o'clock in the morning. Pakenham had to 
attack now. He was already within range, and a re- 
treat was not to be thought of. Besides, the idea of 
defeat never entered his head. What, the finest sol- 
diers in the world to be stopped or defeated by a lot 
of volunteers, militiamen, backwoodsmen ? Nonsense ! 
Forward was the word ! 

The head of Gibbs' column was led by the Forty- 
fourth regiment, under Colonel Mullens, who had been 
ordered to provide the fascines and scaling ladders, to 
enable them to cross the ditch and mount the walls. 
The regiment, badly commanded, passed by the place 
of storage in the darkness, and had failed to bring up 
the ladders; and General Gibbs, promising to hang 
Colonel Mullens after the action, had sent them back 
at the double quick to procure them. They now came 
straggling back in great disorder, with only a few lad- 
ders. The troops meanwhile were steadily advancing 
in the face of such a hellish fire as few troops have 
ever attempted to withstand. The great thirty-two- 
pounder, charged with musket balls to the very muz- 
zle, actually tore up the head of the column. 

The continuous crackle of the small arms and the 
deep roar of the great guns filled the air with stunning 
sound. The cloud of smoke over the American lines 
was lined and seamed with streaks of fire, and the 
lightning itself was not more swift and deadly than 
the leaden messengers which leaped from it. Grape 
and solid shot ripped long lanes through the advancing 
soldiery, but they still came on! It was magnificent! 
Reaching the edge of the ditch, they were in point- 
blank range of the deadly American riflemen. Mul- 
lens and his men were nowhere to be seen. There 



300 American Fights and Fighters 

were no ladders, no fascines, no anything. No troops 
that hved could stand the steady, awful fire of the 
Tennesseans. In the face of that blasting storm of 
death they stopped, faltered, broke, and ran. 

The officers recklessl}^ and heroically strove to re- 
form them and lead them on. They were shot down 
like sheep in their brave efforts. Gibbs came up to 
Pakenham weeping and crying. 

"The men will not follow me," he said brokenly. 
'T can't get them to come on." 

"Here comes the Ninety-third," said Pakenham, 
looking at the splendid regiment of Highlanders ad- 
vancing coolly in the awful confusion. "Rally on the 
Ninety-third !" he cried, darting in among the retreat- 
ing men, followed by the officers of his staff. They 
finally succeeded in checking the backward movement, 
the brave men fell into line once more, faced the other 
way slowly, and began another desperate advance. 

On the other flank a small redoubt in front of Jack- 
son's lines was captured by Rennie's men after a furi- 
ous little combat, but not until every one of the few 
defenders was killed or wounded. The guns were 
then turned upon the American line. Rennie and a 
few of his men made for the ditch in spite of the fact 
that the black regiment from the West Indies, which 
was to lead, failed miserably at this juncture, behaving 
quite as badly as the Forty-fourth. There were no 
ladders, no fascines here either. Nevertheless, Rennie 
and a few men struggled across the ditch, and the col- 
onel, the major, and one other officer mounted the 
works crying, "Surrender!" They were shot dead the 
instant their heads appeared over the parapets, and 
their bodies fell inward. The attack was broken, the 
regiments were actually crumpled up by the fierce, rapid 



The Defense of Louisiana 301 

firing of the Americans until they too fled — all who 
were able, that is. 

Thornton, on the other bank of the river, had at 
last come up and had captured the American position 
with the loss of about one hundred of his men, mainly- 
inflicted by the American naval contingent. Most of 
the militia behaved disgracefully, and fled without fir- 
ing a shot. On that side the river only six Americans 
were killed. Thornton's success came too late to be 
of service. 

Meanwhile, Pakenham, Gibbs and Keane led the 
new attack forward, with the magnificent Scotsmen in 
the advance — a forlorn hope, a desperate venture. 
They had seen hot, hard fighting in Spain; never had 
they met anything like this. There was no lack of 
Anglo-Saxon courage there. Valor teemed upon the 
field, but the trouble was that it was on both sides of 
the redoubt. The men came slowly, with fixed bayo- 
nets, grim determination in their white faces. They 
were waited for by the cool American commander. 
Again the word was given. Again the low, black, 
muddy redoubt of the Americans was tipped with 
vivid, death-dealing flame. The advancing troops 
were mowed down in sheets. 

"Shame, shame!" cried Pakenham, intercepting 
those who would fain retreat. "This is the way. 
Forward ! Forward !" he cried, beating the reluctant 
men with his sword. "Order up the reserve !" he said 
to his aide, who galloped madly away. 

When the officer delivered the order to Lambert, 
who was watching the dreadful carnage with feelings 
of sickening horror, he ordered the bugler to sound 
the advance. The men sprang to their feet, waiting the 
signal, when a solid shot tore the trumpet from the 



302 American Fights and Fighters 

bugler's lips before he had made a note. Ere he 
could procure another bugle the battle was over, and 
to put in the reserve would be only to devote more men 
to destruction. 

Pakenham's arm was shattered, his horse was killed 
under him, but, forgetful of everything but the battle, 
he mounted another and, waving his sword, rode on, 
encouraging his troops until he was hurled from his 
saddle and instantly killed by another bullet. Keane 
fell desperately hurt. Gibbs was mortally wounded, 
and carried reluctantly from the field. Colonel Dale, 
at the head of the Highlanders, was shot dead. Offi- 
cer after officer was killed. The splendid Ninety-third 
marched up to the edge of the ditch and stood there, 
unable to go forward, too proud to retreat — an heroic 
example of veteran soldiery. They won a deathless 
name on that field. Finally, with less than one hun- 
dred and twenty men out of nearly eight hundred, the 
Highlanders slowly retired. The rest of the army had 
long since fled. Less than half an hour had ended it 
all. Half the American force had not been engaged. 

Jackson immediately despatched a large body of 
troops across the river to oust Thornton, but before 
the Americans could deliver their attack Thornton, 
under orders from Lambert, who succeeded to the com- 
mand of the beaten army, abandoned the position. 
The British retreated precipitately to their ships a few 
days later, leaving behind those of their wounded un- 
able to be moved, and many guns and supplies. Lam- 
bert conducted the retreat so skilfully that he was re- 
warded by a baronetcy when he returned to England. 

The British loss in this battle was seven hundred 
killed, fourteen hundred wounded, and five hundred 
prisoners; a total loss of twenty-six hundred in twenty- 
five minutes — over one and a half per second ! Li- 



The Defense of Louisiana 303 

credible? True! The American loss was but eight 
killed and fourteen wounded, mostly in the redoubt 
captured by Rennie ! These figures take no account 
of Thornton's attack. The British loss in the whole 
campaign was over thirty-five hundred men, the 
American about three hundred, the number engaged in 
the campaign being about ten thousand for the British 
and about seven thousand for the Americans, although 
in the decisive battle Jackson had in action less than 
three thousand to six thousand of the British. 

It was the most astonishing battle ever fought, and 
the most stupendous victory ever achieved in this hemi- 
sphere prior to Dewey and Sampson, and the misery of 
it all was that peace had been declared some time be- 
fore the battle was fought ! Oh, for some earth-gird- 
ling "Puck" to have carried the news ! The lives of all 
the brave men had been sacrificed in vain. 

The English soldiers had fought with the utmost 
determination and valor. Pakenham's plans were 
good ones, in fact they were the only ones which could 
have been put in operation at all ; no blame attaches to 
him, unless for haste in not waiting for Thornton, but 
the honor of the campaign must rest with Jackson. 
Nobody could have done better ; few so well. 

While the battle was unnecessary, the victory was 
very useful in creating among the British nation and 
the nations of the world generally a healthy respect 
for American arms, which has never entirely left them. 
We have kept it fresh from time to time. The battle 
of New Orleans was a great, glorious, and dreadful 
victory, and the most conspicuous military figure in the 
history of our country between the Revolution and the 
Civil War is undoubtedly that of the backwoods fighter 
— Andrew Jackson of Tennessee! 



THE CONSTITUTION'S LAST 
BATTLE 



The last survivor of the great captains of the War of 
1812, who indeed Hved until four years after the close 
of the Civil War, having been previously retired in 
1862 as rear admiral, was Charles Stewart. Though 
it does not appertain to this story, it is interesting to 
note that the daughter of this splendid American 
fighter became the mother of that equally brilliant 
fighter in other fields, Charles Stewart Parnell, the 
great Irish agitator. Stewart was born of Irish 
parentage, in Pennsylvania, in 1776, He entered the 
merchant service at thirteen, and was captain of a ship 
at nineteen, an age at which, at present and under 
modern conditions, our prospective naval officers cannot 
possibly have attained the rank of midshipman even! 
In 1798 Stewart was appointed a lieutenant in the navy, 
where he served with distinction in all the subsequent 
wars. In the French War, while in command of the 
schooner Experiment, he captured a French armed 
schooner of much greater force than his own after a 
brilliant little combat. He was the second in com- 
mand to stout old Commodore Preble in the Tripoli- 
tan War, and offered to cut out the Philadelphia; but 
Decatur had made the proposition before Stewart. 

304 



The Constitution' s Last Battle 305 

who had command of the Siren, which had been away 
from the station, had learned of the disaster, and so he 
had to content himself with supporting Decatur's at- 
tack, as we have seen. 

At the beginning- of the War of 1812 he had com- 
mand of the famous frigate Constellation. It was 
through his address that she escaped from a heavy- 
British squadron into the Elizabeth River at Norfolk, 
where she was unfortunately so closely blockaded dur- 
ing the entire war that it was impossible for her to 
get to sea. It was his precaution and wise prevision 
which prevented the capture of that ship by several 
cutting-out expeditions which attempted it. At the 
close of 1 81 3 he was given command of the more fa- 
mous ship Constitution, 44, in which Hull and Bain- 
bridge had won their notable victories over the Giier- 
riere and the Jaz'a. Stewart at once put to sea, as usual 
escaping the blockaders off Boston. He had a rather 
successful cruise, capturing a heavily armed British 
schooner of war, an armed privateer of large size, 
a letter of marque, several merchant vessels, and 
chasing the frigate Pique, 36, which escaped at night, 
after a hard pursuit, through the Windward Passage. 
On his way back the Constitution was chased hard by 
the frigates Jimon and Nyrnplie, either of which was 
a match for her. She escaped with difficulty, and 
finally made the harbor of Marblehead ; thence, shortly 
after, she got into Boston, passing the blockade again. 

The ship was in bad shape, nothing having been 
done to her in the way of refitting or repairing since 
her two hard battles. She was therefore entirely over- 
hauled, under Stewart's direction — a long and tedious 
job. Her crew having been sent to the Lakes, where 
they gave good account of themselves, a new crew was 



3o6 American Fights and Fighters 

shipped — the pick of the country — and on December 
30, 18 14, she got to sea, eluding the blockaders before 
Boston for the seventh time during the war ! She was 
as fine and fit for every emergency as any frigate that 
ever sailed the ocean. It is quite within the bounds 
of truth to say that there never was a ship so dreaded 
by the whilom masters of the sea as the United States 
ship Constitution. Under previous instructions from 
the British Admiralty, as soon as she got away every 
vessel of whatever class which spoke another on the 
high seas was instructed to announce the escape of the 
Constitution from the blockade; thus, almost with 
the quickness of the wind itself, from ocean to ocean 
was carried the ominous news. Frigates cruising alone 
were instructed to avoid action with anything that 
looked like the great American. Other vessels were 
directed to hunt her in couples ! 

Perhaps Captain Stewart had this fact in mind, for 
when his young wife, to whom he had been recently 
married, in answer to the natural question of depart- 
ing husbands — especially youthful ones — "What shall 
I bring you as a present?" patriotically answered, "A 
British frigate," he replied, smiling, "I will bring you 
two!" However, his expectations did not seem in the 
way of being realized, for the cruise was more or less 
an uneventful one at first, and the officers and men 
began to feel that the usual luck of the Constitution 
had failed them. On February 18, 181 5, long after 
peace had been declared, by the way, Stewart chased 
an English line-of-battle ship, the Elizabeth, ofT the 
Portuguese coast near Lisbon; before her character 
was discovered he left the chase and captured a mer- 
chant vessel. When the Eli::;ahcth reached Lisbon 
and learned that the Constitution was in the vicinity, 



The Constitution' s Last Battle 307 

without stopping for any purpose she at once squared 
away in pursuit. 

It happened that the frigate Tf^cr, 36, under the com- 
mand of Richard Dacres, who had been so badly beaten 
on the Guerriere, was in port also. Dacres had been 
especially preparing his vessel for the purpose of meet- 
ing the Constitution, or one of her sister ships, and he 
followed the Elisabeth close on the heels of the Ameri- 
can. It was lucky for him he never caught sight of 
her. About the same time the Lcandcr, the Nczvcastlc, 
and the Acasta, two fifty- and one forty-gun frigates, 
wdiich the Constitution had eluded before at Boston, 
were booming along toward the eastward in pursuit of 
her, deluded by a rumor which said that she had been 
joined by the Congress and the President. In addi- 
tion, the seas swarmed with British cruisers in couples 
seeking her. Stewart, who had changed his course 
without any explicable reason, had sailed the Constitu- 
tion down to within eighty leagues of the Madeiras, 
which then bore about southwest by west. She was 
sailing along serenely in the midst of all this commo- 
tion when, early in the afternoon of February 20th, 
a large sail was discovered, through a rift in the fog, 
bearing two points off the port bow\ It was a raw, 
nasty day, the fresh wet breeze raising a choppy, un- 
comfortable sea. 

The Constitution at once edged away in chase. At 
two o'clock another sail was raised, right ahead of the 
former and apparently in company with her. Signals 
were exchanged between the two vessels which had 
been sighted, and they made every effort to close w'ith 
each other. A double row of painted ports on the 
nearest led the Americans to think that they were in 
the presence of two frigates, a large one of at least 



3o8 American Fights and Fighters 

fifty guns and a smaller, but Stewart had promised his 
officers a fight, and he was quite in the mood to have 
tackled a line-of-battle ship rather than disappoint all 
hands, so the Constitution was soon covered with every 
strip of canvas, including studding sails, which she 
could carry alow and aloft, and bore down upon the 
strangers, which she soon began to overhaul. The 
two ships, which were gradually working nearer to 
each other, set all sail, hoisted the English flag, and 
endeavored to escape. 

About half past four in the afternoon the Constitu- 
tion carried away her main royal mast in the freshen- 
ing breeze, which so far delayed her that it gave her 
enemies time to close with each other. By smart sea- 
manship, by five o'clock the damage was repaired, an- 
other spar replaced the broken one, sail was set, and 
the Constitution quickly regained her speed, and 
began to overhaul the chase again as before. There 
was some little manceuvering on the part of the Eng- 
lish, who had flung out their battle flags, to get the 
weather-gage, but they were unable to out-point the 
Constitution, and indeed had hardly time to settle back 
on the old starboard tack again when she came booming 
down upon them. Action was now inevitable. Seeing 
this they deliberately stripped themselves to fighting 
canvas, and Stewart did the same. At six o'clock in 
the evening the three vessels lay at the points of an 
equilateral angle, the two English vessels in a line 
ahead, the smaller in the lead, forming the base, and 
the Constitution midway between them at the apex; 
all were heading west, with the wind over the star- 
board quarter, the Constitution being to windward. 

Stewart now saw that his antagonists were a small 
frigate and a large sloop-of-war — a very tidy couple 



The Constitution! s Last Battle 309 

indeed. At six o'clock the battle began at a range 
within two hundred and fifty yards, a little more than 
the length of an ordinary city block. It was a brilliant 
moonlight night, the clouds and the fog had disap- 
peared, and all of the vessels were now plainly visible. 
Every gun on the engaged sides of the three ships was 
at once in action, and the firing for fifteen minutes was 
rapid and fierce. The British cheered loudly, while 
the men on the Constitution maintained a grim silence 
— they could cheer later on. A cloud of smoke drifted 
down between the Constitution and her antagonists, 
whose fire, by the way, materially decreased, and at 
6.15 P.M. Stewart ceased firing. 

As the smoke blew away he saw that he had forged 
ahead, and was now abreast of and very near the fore- 
most ship, afterward found to be the sloop-of-war 
Levant, Captain Douglass. Stewart also discovered 
that the rear ship, the frigate Cyanc, had luft'ed up into 
the wind and was endeavoring to go about on the other 
tack to cross his stern and rake him. He acted with 
the quickness of thought itself to meet this new dan- 
ger, first pouring a tremendous broadside from double- 
shotted guns into the Levant at close range, which 
nearly smashed the life out of her; he laid his main 
and mizzen topsails to the mast, let fly the jib-sheet, 
braced the head-yards around until the sails shivered 
in the wind, and with astonishing rapidity actually 
backed the Constitution down upon her other enemy. 

Instead of being able to cross the stern of the Ameri- 
can, what was the surprise of Captain Falcon, of the 
frigate Cyane, to see her huge bulk come shoving 
through the smoke across his own bows. At this junc- 
ture, the two ships being almost in contact, the Consti- 
tution poured in a full broadside from her port battery. 



3IO American Fights and Fighters 

which raked the Cyane terribly fore and aft. She 
shivered from truck to keelson under this terrific 
smashing as if she had struck a rock. Beaten off from 
the wind by the Constitution's manoeuvers, the Cyane 
fell away, of course, and the two ships sailed side by 
side for perhaps five minutes, exchanging broadsides, 
until the lighter Cyane was silenced. 

Leaving the helpless frigate for the moment, Stewart 
turned his attention to the Levant, which had been fir- 
ing aimlessly into the smoke and had at last found out 
that the Constitution had dropped astern. Now, there- 
fore, Captain Douglass attempted to come by the wind 
to cross the bows of the Constitution and rake her, in 
the hope of delivering his helpless consort. As soon 
as Stewart saw the manoeuvers he put his helm up, 
filled away, and, the ship being handled with wonder- 
ful smartness, ran down off the wind and crossed 
astern of the Levant, into whom he poured two raking 
broadsides at close range from his starboard battery, 
which almost completely disabled her. The Levant 
drifted far away and remained out of action for a long 
time, while her men worked desperately to re-reeve the 
gear and refit, so that they could once more engage in 
the fight. Meanwhile the Cyane had pluckily followed 
theConstitution, and now attempted to wear to cross her 
stern and rake, but the Constitution was much better 
handled. She emulated the manoeuverof the enemy, and 
actually succeeded in swinging around under the stern 
of the devoted Cyane, into which she poured another 
terrible raking broadside; then she rounded to on her 
port quarter, and for ten minutes she made a chopping- 
i3lock of her gallant enemy. At 6.50 p.m. the Cyane 
struck her colors. She was immediately taken posses- 
sion of by a prize crew, an operation which consumed 
some little time. 



The Constitution's Last Battle 311 

Meanwhile the Levant, having finished refitting-, in- 
stead of trying to escape, now sailed boldly down to 
meet the Constitution again. Captain Douglass must 
have known that the Cyanc had been captured, and 
that he, in his smaller ship, had no further chance in 
the fight, especially in view of the punishment he had 
already received, therefore his action was foolhardy, 
but gallant. At 8.50 p.m. the two ships passed each 
other on different tacks, exchanging broadsides, then 
the Levant spread everything to get away. The Con- 
stitution wore in chase, and by 9.30 in the evening had 
drawn so close to that ship that the shot from her bow- 
chasers could be distinctly heard splintering the tim- 
bers on board of the Levant. The situation of the 
latter was perfectly helpless, and she struck her colors. 
The Constitution's last and greatest battle was over. 

As an exhibition of the highest seamanship this ac- 
tion has never even been paralleled. It is almost hopeless 
to attempt to prevent one ship engaged with two others 
from being frequently raked. In this instance the Con- 
stitution, by her masterly handling, raked both ships 
opposed to her repeatedly, manning her port or star- 
board battery at will. One of the opposing ships tried 
two times to cross her stern, the other to cross her 
bows, she frustrated both attempts with ease. In all 
her manoeuvers she never lost the weather-gage; she 
went backward, or forward, or turned about on her heel, 
attacking either ship apparently at pleasure. Stewart 
handled her like a yacht or a catboat. It was astonish- 
ing! Stewart's exploit excited the greatest admiration 
among nautical critics all over the world — and does to 
this day — and, with Hull's wonderful escape on the 
same ship from the pursuing British squadron, stands 
at the very high-water mark of consummate seaman- 
ship and skill. 



312 American Fights and Fighters 

The number of guns on the Constitution was fifty- 
one. Out of her crew of four hundred and fifty-six 
she lost four killed and ten wounded. The combined 
armament of the Cyane and the Levant amounted to 
fifty-five guns. Out of their crews of three hundred 
and fifteen they lost thirty-five killed and forty-two 
wounded. Both ships were terribly cut up. 

The Constitution had sustained but little damage to 
her rigging, but she had been hulled thirteen times by 
solid shot. Only three shot had hulled her when she 
fought the Guerriere, and four when she had fought 
the Java, therefore the English had done better than 
usual. The Cyane had lost twelve killed and twenty- 
six wounded. Every brace and bowline had been cut, 
most of her standing and running rigging was carried 
away, her main and mizzenmasts were tottering, many 
important spars were badly wounded, she had been 
hulled many times, and five of her guns were disabled. 
The Levant lost twenty-three killed and sixteen 
wounded. She was smashed up as badly as her con- 
sort. 

One or two little anecdotes in connection with the 
fight are of interest. The two British captains were 
discussing, over their wine after dinner in Stewart's 
cabin, the reason of their defeat, each accusing the 
other of being the cause of it. Stewart listened to 
their acrimonious debate for some time, and finally 
suggested, as a method of solving the problem, that 
he would put them and their crews back upon their 
respective ships and try it over! The solution was 
declined in silence. 

Just before the battle grog was served out as usual 
to the crew of the Constitution. Some of the men 
claimed that they should have a double portion, as they 



The Constitution's Last Battle 313 

had two ships to fight. This so filled the mind of a 
veteran seaman aboard with disgust that he kicked 
over the grog tub, amid the cheers of the men, remark- 
ing "that they didn't need no Dutch courage to fight 
them ships." 

A sailor named John Lancey, from Cape Ann, was 
carried below to the cockpit, horribly mutilated by a 
solid shot and writhing in death agony, just as the 
Cyane struck her colors. The surgeon, after a hasty 
examination, told him that he could do nothing for 
him and that his end was approaching. "I know it," 
replied the heroic man ; "I only want to know that the 
other ship has struck." When the shouts of the men 
above announced to him that the Levant had surren- 
dered he actually lifted himself from his cot, waved his 
blood-stained, shattered arm stump in the air, and 
joined in the cheering, and immediately thereafter ex- 
pired. 

After a very gallant action many years before, by 
which Stewart saved the lives of some sixty Spanish 
people escaping from an outbreak at San Domingo, he 
had been presented with a superb Toledo blade by the 
King of Spain, his naval and official rank not per- 
mitting him to receive a completed sword from a for- 
eign government. This blade had been beautifully 
mounted, and he wore the sword during this battle 
with the Cyanc and the Levant. A solid shot, which 
grazed his side during the action, had carried away the 
hilt. The armorer of the Constitution, after the bat- 
tle, fitted a rudely forged iron guard to the exquisite 
blade, and ever after, on state occasions, Stewart wore 
this rough, iron-hilted sword. 

The prize crews from the Constitution made all haste 
to get the ships in shape again. By one o'clock in the 



314 American Fights and Fighters 

morning of February 21st, or three hours after the 
surrender of the Cyanc and the Levant, the Constitu- 
tion was ready for another action. On the following 
day they headed for the nearest neutral port, and on 
the fifteenth of March anchored in Porta Praya, in the 
Cape Verde Islands. There Stewart found one of his 
prizes, which he determined to use as a cartel to send 
the prisoners back to England. The day after their 
arrival, as they were busily engaged in their prepara- 
tions, an English midshipman on the Constitution 
called the attention of Captain Falcon of the Cyane, 
who was a prisoner there, to the sails of a large ship 
seen above the fog, coming toward the harbor. The 
air was filled with a dense mist, Avhich hung low and 
prevented anything below the topgallant yards from 
being visible. The English captain angrily silenced 
the imprudent midshipman, but the attention of Shu- 
brick, acting first of the Constitution, had been called 
to the stranger. 

He hastily informed Captain Stewart, who was 
shaving in his cabin, and received orders to get under 
way and go out to engage. Immediately thereafter 
the sails of two other ships were detected towering 
al)ove the fog. At this news the half-shaved, but fully 
alert Stewart came running on deck, ordered the 
cables cut, and signaled the two prizes to get under 
way at once. It was quite evident from the look of 
the sails that the force approaching was too great for 
him to cope with, with any chance of success. It is 
on a par with the rest of the seamanship of this re- 
markable cruise to note that ten minutes after the 
strange sails had been sighted the Constitution and 
her prizes, the latter naturally greatly undermanned 
with their small prize crews, had cut cables, got under 



The Constitution' s Last Battle 315 

way, and under their topsails alone, which rendered 
them invisible as the fog rose above them, they were 
stretching swiftly for the mouth of the harbor. Some 
of the English prisoners, who had been landed, took 
possession of a Portuguese battery and began firing at 
the escaping ships, which caused the English outside to 
get on the alert at once. 

The fog gradually lowered as the three ships made 
the harbor entrance and, crossing their topgallant 
yards in gallant style, stretched away for the open sea. 
The various ships were plainly visible to each other 
down to the tops. The three English vessels were Sir 
George Collier's squadron, before mentioned — the 
Leandcr, 50, the Newcastle, 50, and the Acasta, 40. 
To oppose this formidable squadron Stewart had the 
Constitution, 44, the Cyane, 32, the Levant, 18, the two 
latter badly disabled still and with only small prize 
crews, insufficient in number to work the guns aboard. 
The English forces counted one hundred and sixty- 
three heavy guns and twelve hundred men. The 
Americans one hundred and six guns, most of them 
light, and four hundred and fifty men. The fifty-gun 
ships were especially large and heavy, and designed 
particularly to overmatch ships of the Constitution's 
class. To run was Stewart's only chance; he was as 
good at running as he was at fighting. 

The chase that ensued was as exciting as any the 
Constitution ever participated in. The fog still held, 
though it gradually settled down so that the officers 
standing on the hammock cloths of the pursuing ships 
were easily seen from the American ships, though the 
hulls of the English ships still remained concealed. 
About I P.M., finding that the Cyane was lagging be- 
hind and in danger of being overhauled, Stewart sig- 



3i6 American Fights and Fighters 

naled her to tack, supposing that one of the chasing 
ships would be detached to pursue. If he could divide 
the enemy he determined to engage the nearest ship 
himself. The three pursuers, however, paid no atten- 
tion to the last ship — which, by the way, succeeded in 
reaching New York in safety a month later — but held 
on after the other two. At 2.30 p.m. the foremost 
English ship opened on the Constitution, firing by divi- 
sion, but the shot fell short by an hundred yards. 
Stewart gained a little more definite idea of the size 
and quality of his pursuer from the heavy fire of the 
divisions of her battery. 

At 3 P.M., the Levant being now almost within 
range of the nearest pursuer, Stewart signaled her to 
tack, which she immediately did, when, to the surprise 
of the officers on board the Constitution, the whole of 
the formidable English squadron tacked and stood on 
in the wake of the little sloop Levant. The old Con- 
stitution at this time was skipping through the water 
at about twelve knots an hour. There was nothing 
on the seas to catch her, and she soon ran the enemy 
out of sight. She reached Boston in safety early in 
May. Ballard, the prize master of the Levant, seeing 
escape was hopeless, made for Porta Praya again. He 
anchored immediately under the guns of the battery, 
but the English commodore, as usual paying no atten- 
tion to the neutrality of the port, sent the Newcastle 
and the Acasta into the harbor, and, after enduring the 
fire of these two heavy ships for some fifteen minutes, 
Lieutenant Ballard struck his colors. 

"I believe, sir," said the English boarding officer, in 
great exultation, coming to take charge of the prize, 
"that I have the honor to receive the sword of Captain 
Blakeley of the Wasp" "No, sir," said Ballard grimly, 



The Constitutioii s Last Battle 317 

"you have the honor to receive the sword of Cap- 
tain Bahard, prize master of his Britannic Majesty's 
sloop-of-war Levant I" Why Sir George Colher's 
squadron acted in this extraordinary manner in this 
pursuit has never been definitely ascertained, though 
various explanations of it, all equally unsatisfactory, 
have been put forth. Sir George was so chagrined 
over the matter that, on being reproached with it some 
years later, he committed suicide. 

The brilliant way in which Stewart had escaped 
from the harbor and succeeded in preserving two of 
his ships from the tremendously overwhelming force 
of his enemy added new laurels to the wreath which 
his grateful countrymen had twined about the head of 
the splendid sailor. He received the usual rewards 
from Congress and his countrymen, and, by graceful 
compliment, the popular name of the gallant ship 
he had so ably commanded was soon applied to him, 
and to the end of his days he was known as "Old 
Ironsides !" 



INDEX 



INDEX 



Abercrombie, Lieut. -Col., 156 

Acasta (British frigate), 307, 315- 
316 

Ackland, Maj., 76-78, 82 

Acttzon (British frigate), 7, 8, 12 

Active (British frigate), 7, 8, 13 

Allen, Ethan, 1 18-120 

Alliance (American frigate), 44, 46, 
51, 54, 140-142 

Anderson, Midshipman, 204, 209 

Andria Doria (American armed 
vessel), 129 

Ann, Fort, abandonment of, 61 

Arbuthnot, John, 254, 256 

Armada (British line-of-battle ship), 
254 

Arnold, Benedict, in Saratoga cam- 
paign, 66, 73-79; in storming of 
Ticonderoga, 117-120; in the 
Yorktown campaign, 145-146 

Atalanta (British war ship), 140- 
141 

Augusta (Ga.), post at, 86, 89; cap- 
ture of, 103 

Avon (British brig-of-war), 254- 
256 

Bainbridge, Joseph, 203, 209 

Bainbridge, William, 201, 215-225 

Baker, Midshipman, 247, 248. 

Balcarras, Lord, 58, 76 

Ballard, Lieut., 316, 317 

Barney, Joshua, 136-139 

Barras, Count de, 148, 152 

Barreaut, Capt., of U Instirgente, 
186 

Barry, John, 139-142 

Baum, Col., 59, 67-69 

Beatty, Capt., 105 

Bemis Heights, American occupa- 
tion of, 73, 75 

Bennington, Battle of, 68-70 



Bentham, George, 276 
Biddle, James, 247, 248 
Biddle, Nicholas, 128-132 
Bladensburg, Battle of, 138 
Blakely, Johnston, 250-256 
Bonhotmne Richard, 43 ; crew of, 

44; encounter with the Serapis, 

45-54 ; destruction of, 54 
Borgne, Lake, attack at, 290-291 
Brady, Hugh, 233-235 
Brainer, Capt., 255, 256 
Brandywine, Battle of, 59 
Brant, Joseph, 64, 1 75 
Breyman, Col., 59, 69 
Bristol (British line-of-battle ship), 

7.8, 11-13 
Brown, Jacob, 226-230, 232, 233, 

238, 241, 242 
Burgoyne, John, 56-59, 62, 67, 71- 

74, 76, 79 
Butler, Richard, 168, 172 

Cadwalader, Gen., 20, 22 

Camden (N. C.),post at, 86; Battle 

of, 86 
Campbell, Col., 112, 113 
Campbell, Lord William, 6, 13 
Carleton, Sir Guy, 58 
Carnation (British brig-of-war), 

275-277, 283, 284 
Carolina (American schooner), 290- 

293. 295 

Carolinas, Greene's campaign in, 
84-116 

Carroll, leader of Tennessee rifle- 
men, 294 

Cassin, Stephen, 260, 267 

Castillian (British brig-of-war), 255 

Caswell, Richard, 4 

Catalino, Salvator, 203 

Chads, Lieut., 222 

Chalmette's plantation, Battle of, 296 



322 



Index 



Cliamplain, Lake, Battle of, 262-271 

Charles, Midshipman, 203 

Charleston, attack of, 5-14; evacua- 
tion of, 116 

Charon (British frigate), 156 

Chauncey, Commodore, 227-228, 
232-233 

Cheevers, heroism of the, 223 

Chippewa, Battle of, 229-232 

Chubb (British sloop-of-war), 261, 
264-266, 271 

Clinton, Sir Henry, expedition 01 
1776, 3, 4, 9, 10, 13; operations 
of 1777, 72; expedition of 1780, 
85, 86, 89; operations of 1779, 
121,124,125; operations of 1 781, 
149, 152, 156 

Cockburn, Admiral, 297 

Coffey, leader of Kentucky riflemen, 
294 

Coffin, Capt., Ill 

Collier, Sir George, 315, 317 

Confia7tce (British frigate), 261, 264- 
266, 268, 269, 271 

Constellation (American frigate), 
179,183-195,305 

Co7tstitt{tion{Kmiix\(zan frigate), 201, 
203, 215,217-225,305-317 

Cornwallis, Lord, expedition ol 
1776,4, 18; Princeton campaign, 
27. 29, 30, 31, 34, 36, 38; Caro- 
lina campaign, 86-92, 96-101 ; 
surrender, 116; Yorktown cam- 
paign, 144-148, 150-152, 155-159 

Cornwallis (British ship-of-the- 
line), 217 

Cowpens, Battle of, 93-96 

Cox, Col., 63, 64 

Crown Point, capture of, 120 

Cruger, Col., 107, 108, 113 

Cyane (British frigate), 307-316 

Dabney, Consul, 275-277, 279, 284 

Dacres, Richard, 307 

Dale, Col., 298, 302 

Dale, Richard, 44, 48-52, 181 

Darke, Col., 173 

Davis, Midshipman, 203 

Decatur, Stephen, 199-212 

Defiance, Mount, 59 

De Kalb, Baron, 86, 87 

Delaplace, Capt., 117, 119, 120 

Delaware River, Washington's re- 



treat across, 18 ; second crossing, 

21 
Douglas, Capt., 309-311 
Douglas, Fort, 238, 239, 241 
Downie, Commodore, 260, 263, 264, 

268, 269 
Drummond, Lieut. -Col., 239, 240 
Drummond, Sir Gordon, 233, 236, 

239, 242, 243 

Eagle (American brig-of-war), 260, 

262, 264-267, 269-271 
Easton, Jonathan, 118 
E?idyniion (British frigate), 199 
Enterprise (American war vessel), 

202, 203 
Erie, Fort, surrender of, 228; siege 

of, 238-242 
Eutaw Springs, battle of, 110-115 
Ewing, Gen., 20, 22 
Experi7)ietit (American schooner), 

304 
Experi7)ient (British line-of-battle 
ship), 7, 8, II, 13, 140 

Falcon, Capt., 309, 314 

Falling Timbers, Battle of, 175 

Febiger, Col., 123 

Ferguson, Patrick, 88 

Fermoy, Gen. de, 60 

Einch (British sloop-of-war), 261, 

264, 266, 271 
Flag, first American, 65-66 
Fleury, Lieut.-Col., 122, 123 
Francis, Col., 60, 61 
Eraser, Maj.-Gen., 58, 61, 73, 74, 

76, 77, 79 
Freeman's Farm, Battle of, 74-75 
French War, 179-195 
Eriendship (British battle-ship), 7 
Erolic (British brig-of-vvar), 245- 

249 

Gaines, Gen., 238, 241 

Gamble, Lieut., 265, 268 

Gansevoort, Peter, 62, 63, 65 

Gates, Horatio, 20, 22, 71, 74-76, 
78,86 

Germaine, Lord, 58, 159 

Germantown, Battle of, 59 

General Arjnstrong (American pri- 
vateer-ship), 274-284, 286 



Index 



323 



General Rlonk (British sloop-of- 

war), 137, 138 
Gibbons, Lieut., 123 
Gibbs, Samuel, 295, 298-302 
Granby, Fort, 89, 103 
Grasse, Count de, 1 10, 143, 147, 

148, 150-152, 156, 159 
Graves, Admiral, 152 
"Green Mountain Boys," n8 
Greene, Nathaniel, in New Jersey 
campaign, 20, 22; Carolina cam- 
paign, 84 ; character, 85 ; organi- 
zation of Southern army, 87-90; 
plans for campaign, 91-92 ; Battle 
of Cowpens and retreat, 96-97 ; 
Battle of Guilford Court House, 
98-101 ; further movements, 102- 
107; siege of Ninety-six, 107- 
109; Battle of Eutawf Springs, 
110-I12, 114; end of campaign, 
115-I16; death, 116 
Guilford Court House, Battle of, 
98-100 



Hale, Col., 60, 6i 
Hamilton, Alexander, 153 
Hamtranck, Maj., 169 
Haslet, Col., 33 
Henderson, Col., iii, 113 
Henly, Robert, 260, 266, 290 
Herkimer, Nicholas, 63, 65-67 
Hessian troops, surprise of, 23-25 ; 

at Bennington, 68-69 
Hindman, Maj., 228 
Hislop, Lieut.-Gen., 217, 224 
Hobkirk's Hill, Battle of, 104 
Howard, John, 94, 95, 113 
Howe, Gen., 18, 27, 58, 59, 72 
Hubbardton, Battle of, 61 
Hyder Ally (American armed mer- 
chantman), 136-138 

Independence (American privateer- 
ship), 181 

Indian War in the Northwest, 163- 
176 

Indians in the Revolution, 64-66, 71 

Insiirgente, V (French frigate), 
179, 183-188, 195 

Intrepid (American ketch previously 
called J/rtj-/;V(;), 202-211 

Iris (British frigate), 135, 136 



Izard, Gen., 242 

Izard, Midshipman, 203 

Jackson, Andrew, 285, 287-303 

Jarvis, James, 193-195 

Jasper, William, 10, 14-15 

Java (British frigate), 201, 217-225 

Jefferson, Fort, 168, 175 

Jessup, Maj., 231,234, 235 

Jones, Jacob, 244-247 

Jones, John Paul, early life, 41- 

43; battle with Scrapis, 45-54; 

death 55 ; encounter with 

Truxtun, 181 
Jones, Thomas, 290, 291 

Keane, Gen., 290, 291, 298, 301, 302 
King's Mountain, Battle of, 88 
Knox, Gen., 21, 154 
Knox, Lieut., 123 
Kosciusko, Thaddeus, 73, 107 

Lafayette, Gen., 145-147 

La Fitte, Jean, 294 

Lambert, Henry, 217, 219, 220,222- 

225 
Lambert, John, 295, 298, 301, 302 
Lancey, John, 313 
Landais, Capt., of the Alliance, 46, 

Lang, Jack, 247, 248 

Lauzun, Duke de, 153 

Lawrence, Maj., 289 

Lawrence, James, 203, 209 

Laws, Midshipman, 208 

leander (British frigate), 307, 315 

Leavenworth, Col., 231, 234, 235 

Lee, Charles, 5, 6, 8, 12, 19, 59 

Lee, Richard Henry, in Carolina 
campaign, 87, 99, 102, 103, 108, 
111-113; storming of Paulus 
Hook, 125-127 

Lee, Fort, capture of, 72 

Levant (British sloop-of-war), 307- 

317 
Lewis, Midshipman, 203 
" Light Horse Harry Lee." See 

Lee, Richard Henry 
Lincoln, Gen., 86, 151 
Linnet (British brig-of-war), 261, 

264-266, 268-271 
Little Turtle (Indian chief of the 

Miamis), 175 



324 



Index 



Lloyd, Robert, 277, 285 

Louisiana (American sloop-of-war), 

290, 293, 295-297 
Louisiana, defense of, 287-303 
Lundy's Lane, Battle of, 233-238 
Lyman, Lieut., 256 

MacCrea, Jane, murder of, 71 

Macdaniel, Sergeant, II 

Macdonald, Alan and Donald, 3, 4 

Macdonough, Lieut., 240, 241 

Macdonough, Thomas, 201, 203, 
209, 258-266, 268-271 

McKay, Lieut., 103 

McKnight, Lieut., 256 

McLane, Allan, 126 

McNeil, John, 231, 232, 234, 235 

Macomlj, Gen., 263, 270 

Maham, Col., 103 

Majoribanks, Maj., 112, 113 

Manners, William, 251-253 

Marion, Francis, at defense of Char- 
leston, 6, 8; Carolina campaign, 
88, 91, 100, 102, 103, 109, 112 

Martin, Gov. of N. C, 3 

Mastico. See Intrepid. 

Matterface, William, 279, 282 

Mawhood, Lieut. -Col., 30, 33 

Mercer, Gen., 32-34 

Miller, Col., 235, 236, 241, 242 

Monroe, James, 24 

Moore's Creek, Battle of, 4 

Morgan, Daniel, 73, 76, 77, 87, 91- 

97 

Morris, Midshipman, 203, 208 

Morris, John, 11 
Morris, Robert, 29, 41 
Motte, Fort, 89, 103 
Moultrie, William, 5, 6, 8-10, 14 
Moultrie, Fort, change of Fort Sul- 
livan's name to, 14 
Mullens, Col., 299 
Murray, Alexander, 134, 135 

Nelson, Gov., 151, 155 
New Brunswick, British headquar- 
ters at, 18 
New Orleans, siege and Battle of, 

296-303 
Newcastle (British frigate), 307,315, 

316 
Niagara, campaign of, 226-243 
Nicholas, Col., 235 
Nicholson, John, 132-136 



Ninety-six (N. C.) post at, 
siege of 107-108 



O'Hara, Gen., 158 

"Old Ironsides." See Constitution, 

Oriskany Creek, Battle of, 63-65 

Pakenham, Sir Edward, 295-303 
Pallas (American war ship), 44, 45, 

53 
Paris, Col., 63, 64 
Parker, Lieut., 223 
Parker, Sir Peter, 4, 7-10 
Patterson, Commodore, 290 
Paulding, Midshipman, 267 
Paulus Hook, storming of, 125- 

127 
Pearson, Capt., of Serapis, 45-47, 

49, 50' 52-53 
Pensacola, capture of, 289 
Perry, Christopher, 134 
Philadelphia (American frigate), 

201-211, 216 
Philadelphia, capture of, 59 
Philips, Chief of the Artillery, 58, 

60, 73, 75-76, 145 
Pickens, Andrew, 94, 95, 112 
Pinckney's rangers, 88 
Platitagettet (British ship-of-the- 

line), 277, 279 
Poicticrs (British war vessel), 249, 

257 
Porter, David, 187, 215 
Porter, Peter, 228-230, 235, 241, 

242 
Posey, Maj., 123 
Pratt, Midshipman, 266 
Preble, Commodore, 201-203 
Preble (American sloop-of-war), 

260, 262, 266, 271 
Princeton, British occupation of, 

27 ; Battle of, 30-36 
Pring (Commander of the Linnet), 

269-270 
Putnam, Gen., 20, 23, 37, 73 

Quebec (British frigate), 137 

Raleigh (American frigate), 139- 

140 
Rail, Col., 19, 24, 25 



Index 



325 



Randolph (American frigate), 129- 

131 

Ranger (American sloop-of-war), 

42 
Ranger (British battle-ship), 7 
Rawdon, Lord, loi, 104-106, 108, 

no 
Red Jacket, Indian leader, 229 
Reid, Samuel, 273-280, 282-284, 

286 
Reindeer (British brig-of-war), 250- 

253 

Rennie, Col., 298, 300, 303 

Revolutionary War, defense of Fort 
Sullivan, 3-15; Trenton cam- 
paign, 16-26; Princeton cam- 
paign, 27-38; battle of the Bon- 
homnie Richard and the Serapis, 
39-55 ; Saratoga campaign, 56- 
83; Carolina campaign, 84-116; 
capture of Ticonderoga, I17-120; 
storming of Stony Point, 121- 
125; storming of PauUis Hook, 
125-127; minor sea fights, 128- 
142 ; siege and surrender 01 
Yorktown, 143-159 

Riall, Maj.-Gen., 228-231, 233, 235 

Rieaesel, Baron, 59, 61, 73, 75-76 

Ripley, Eleazer, 228, 229, 232, 235, 
237, 238, 242 

Robertson (Commander of the Con- 
fiance^, 269 

Rochambeau, Gen., 148, 154, 156 

Rodgers, John, 187 

Rogers, Lieut., 248 

Rota (British frigate), 277 

Rowe, Midshipman, 203 

Kntl'"ij,c, Gov. of S. C, 5, 6, 8, 9 

St. Clair, Gen., in the Revolution, 
58-60; in the Indian War, 166- 

175 

St. Johns, capture of, 120 

St. Lawrence (British battle-ship), 7 

St. Leger, Lieut. -Col., 62, 63, 66 

Saratoga (American sloop-of-war), 
260, 262, 264-266, 268-269, 271 

Saratoga, campaign of, 56-83 ; Con- 
vention of, 81 

Sargent, Col., 167 

Saumarez, Midshipman, 11 

Scarborough (British sloop-of-war), 

45. 53> 54 
Schuyler, Gen., 61, 63, 66, 71, 72 



Scott, Winfield, 226-235, 237, 238 
Serapis (British frigate), 45-49, 

51-54 
Sthylle (British war ship), 141, 142 
Siren (American war brig), 203, 

204, 211,259,305 
Solebay (British frigate), 7, 8, 13 
.Somerville, Philip, 277 
Sphynx (British sloop-of-war), 7, 8, 

13 

Stansbury (officer on the Ticoft- 

deroga), 267 
Stark, John, 67-70 
Sterrett, Lieut., 185 
Stewart, Col., 110-114 
Stewart, Maj., 123 
Stewart, Charles, 201, 203, 204,216, 

304-317 

Stillwater, Battle of, 76-79 

Stony Point, storming and surrender 
of, 121-125 

Sullivan, Gen., 20-25 

Sullivan, Fort, building of, 5; de- 
fense of, 6-14; change of name 
14 

Sumter, Thomas, 88, 91, loo, 102, 
103, 109 

Sutherland (Commander of Paulus 
Hook), 126 

Syren (British frigate), 7, 8, 13 



Tarleton, Banastre, 89, 92-95, 146 
Tartarus {BriiAsh sloop-of-war), 255 
Thorn, Jonathan, 203 
Thornton, Col., 297-298, 301-303 
Thunder (British bomb vessel), 7 
'Ticonderoga (American war vessel), 

260, 262, 266-267, 270, 271 
Ticonderoga, Fort, British attack, 

59-60; American abandonment, 

60; besieged by Americans, 76; 

storming and surrender, 1 17-120 
Towson, Nathan, 228, 231, 234 
Towson, Fort, 239, 241 
Trenton, attack on, 19-26 
Trepassy (British war ship), 140, 

141 
Tripolitan War, 199-212 
Trumbull (American frigate), 132- 

135 
Iruxtun, Thomas, 179-186, 188- 

192, 194-195 
Tucker, Col., 239 



326 



Index 



I 



Unicorn (British war vessel), 139- 

140 
United States (American frigate), 

I S3, 199 

Vengeance (American war ship), 44, 

46 
Vengeance, La (French frigate), 

179, 188-195 
Villere, Gabriel, 287, 289-291 
Viomenil, Baron de, 153, 154 

Wabash Creek, Indian attack at, 
170-175 

War of 1812, Constitution and the 
Java, 215-225 ; last battle of the 
Constitution, 304-3 1 7 ; Wasp 
and the Frolic, 244-249 ; second 
Wasp''s encounters, 250-257; 
Reid and the General Arm- 
strong, 272-286; Niagara cam- 
paign, 226-243 ■> treaty of peace, 
243 ; Macdonough's victory at 
Lake Champlain, 258-271 ; de- 
fense of Louisiana, 287-303 

Warner, Seth, 60, 61, 70, 118, 120 

Washington, Lieut. -Col., 87, 95, 99, 
104-105, 112-113 

Washington, George, Trenton and 
Princeton campaign, 16-18; at- 



tack on Trenton, 18-26; Battle 
of Princeton, 27-36; results of 
campaign, 37-38; recruiting of 
Gates's army, 73 ; recruiting 
of Southern army, 86-87; storm- 
ing of Stony Point, 121, 122, 124; 
storming of Paulus Hook, 127; 
recruiting of Virginian army, 145- 
146; Yorktown campaign, 147- 
159; in the Indian War, 163-165, 
176 
Washington, William, 24 
Washington, Fort, capture of, 72 
Wasp (American corvette), 244- 

249. 257 
Wasp (American corvette, second), 

250-257 
Watson, Fort, 89, 102, 103 
Watts, Maj., 63 
Wayne, Anthony, 116, 121-125,146, 

147, 175, 176 
Whinyates, Thomas, 249 
Willet, Marinus, 65-66 
Williams, Otho, 87, 91, loo, 112 
Williamsburg, Battle of, 146-147 
Wool, Lieut., 277 

Yannoitth (British ship-of-the-line), 

129-131 
Yorktown, campaign and surrender 

of, 143-159 



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